B8 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2020 SCORES ANALYSIS COMMENTARY
YA baseball prospect getting the Call — the
news that he is being promoted to the major
leagues for the first time — is a momentous
occasion. Managers and executives often
take it upon themselves to deliver this news
memorably, often with a prank, but the
story that the San Diego Padres rookie
Ryan Weathers shared of his experience is
the quintessential tale of 2020.
A 20-year-old left-hander, Weathers was
standing next to the club’s general man-
ager, A.J. Preller, in the team’s hotel while
waiting to grab a swab for the team’s daily
Covid-19 tests when Preller posed a ques-
tion: Which test was for the minor leaguers
and which was for the big leaguers? Weath-
ers said he didn’t know there was a differ-
ence, to which Preller replied, “Grab one
from the big-league side today because
you’re on the roster” for the playoffs.
Hours later, Weathers appeared in relief
during Game 1 of the Padres’ National
League division series against the Los An-
geles Dodgers, becoming the fifth player to
make his major league debut in a playoff
game — and the third such player this post-
season, after Minnesota Twins outfielder
Alex Kirilloff in the wild-card round and
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Shane McClana-
han in his American League division series
against the Yankees.
Oakland A’s infielder Mark Kiger was the
first to do so, during the 2006 A.L. Champi-
onship Series, and Kansas City Royals
shortstop Adalberto Mondesi was next, in
the 2015 World Series.
“I couldn’t really feel my body for the
whole first inning, but it was a lot of fun,”
Weathers said, before adding: “I think the
only thing that went through my head was,
‘I’m in the big leagues right now.’ ”
Weathers, who had never pitched above
Class A before facing the Dodgers’ star-
laden lineup, acquitted himself well, throw-
ing one and a third scoreless innings, even if
he was only partially aware of the experi-
ence. He also confessed to reporters that he
did not realize Dodgers shortstop Corey
Seager had swung at the first pitch he
threw.
All three debutants in this postseason
were former first-round picks who had ap-
peared on top-100 prospect lists, but none
had reached Class AAA. Their professional
timelines accelerated in 2020 because of a
confluence of factors: the expanded rosters
(up to 28 players this year); the format of
the playoff series (with no days off ); clubs’
willingness to be more aggressive in this
unorthodox season; and the level of compe-
tition among the intermingled players at
each organization’s alternate training site
— a new feature for this season so clubs
could keep reserve players in shape in the
absence of a minor league season.
“I think it’s just a whole different envi-ronment now,” said Logan White, a Padres
senior adviser and their director of player
personnel. “At the alternate site, they’re
competing against more polished guys who
played Triple A and major leagues, so you’re
seeing them in an even more competitive
environment in some ways.”
That made scouting easier. No longer did
a front office have to project a prospect’s
performance against a higher level of play.
The Rays’ McClanahan, who has only four
starts at the Class AA level, cited the better
competition at the club’s alternate site in
Port Charlotte, Fla., as a major benefit.
“It was a bunch of good guys who are
starters anywhere else or competing for
jobs anywhere else,” McClanahan said.
“Good clubhouse guys, great staff. That was
a very good atmosphere. Every single per-
son there got better.”
He appeared twice in Tampa Bay’s
A.L.D.S. series win against the Yankees, al-
lowing one earned run over one and two-
thirds innings while featuring a fastball that
reached 99 m.p.h. — enough to earn him a
spot on the Rays’ A.L.C.S. roster, too.
“Lot of power, got a lot to like,” Rays Man-
ager Kevin Cash said. “I don’t know if it’s the
ideal scenario to have your debut come in
Game 1 of a D.S., but I was encouraged. Cer-tainly, the stuff speaks for itself.”
Experiences varied. Kirilloff became the
first player to make his debut while starting
a playoff game when he batted sixth and
played right field in the Twins’ second wild-
card-round game against the Houston As-
tros. He singled in four at-bats while mak-
ing a sliding catch to rob Josh Reddick of a
hit.
“I didn’t find out until after I got to the
field that I was going to start, so there was-
n’t really much time to think about it,” Kir-
illoff said in a telephone interview. “I just
said a prayer for peace and focus and all
that before the game, and once I got out
there I felt pretty OK, to be honest.”
None of the three had played a meaning-
ful game in roughly 13 months, since their
2019 minor league seasons ended. Weath-
ers moved back to his family home in Ten-
nessee, working out and playing long toss
with his sister and father to stay in shape. At
the alternate sites, each tried to create a de-
gree of normalcy during intrasquad scrim-
mages.
Kirilloff took to keeping his own statistics
despite many of his at-bats coming during
live batting sessions or with an incomplete
fielding alignment. (One event with score-
keeping: a Twins home run derby duringwhich Kirilloff lost in the final round to La-
Monte Wade Jr.)
“It was more for me just to have an idea of
how over all I was doing and to just hold my-
self accountable,” Kirilloff said. “I would jot
down notes of what happened that day in
the game, how many balls I hit hard.”
The three players will not receive any
big-league service time for the days spent
on the playoff roster, but at least immediate
family members were able to attend their
debuts in person, which wasn’t possible in
2020 until the postseason. McClanahan said
his father’s first postgame comment was to
jokingly chide him about the full-count walk
he issued, to which the pitcher replied,
“Hey, Dad, good to talk to you, too.”
David Weathers said his son’s blurry
memory of his initial outing sounded famil-
iar to his own experience while making his
debut in 1991 — though on the day of Ryan
Weathers’s first game, his parents did not
relax until after their son’s first-pitch strike.
“We’d been a little bit nervous and antsy
all day,” David Weathers said. “Especially
today’s social media, they don’t have the
glasses that we have to say, ‘OK, this is a 20-
year-old making his debut in the postsea-
son.’ In their eyes, this is just the postsea-
son, so whoever you put out there better do
the job.”
Even though all three either recorded a
hit or struck out a batter in their debuts,
they’ll have to complete those firsts again,
as postseason stats aren’t counted in their
career numbers. Their officially recognized
debuts should come in the regular season —
though fate can be fickle.
Although Mondesi has become the Roy-
als’ everyday shortstop, Oakland’s Kiger
never played in the big leagues again. Kiger
— whose first bit of fame came in the 2003
book “Moneyball,” in which he appeared on
a list of eight players that the A’s executive
Billy Beane was determined to draft — en-
tered as a defensive replacement in two
2006 A.L.C.S. games. He recorded a putout
while playing second base, but never bat-
ted. He completed three more minor league
seasons, but never returned to the majors.
In 2015, the photographer Tabitha Soren
published “Fantasy Life,” a collection of
portraits from that famed A’s draft class.
(Soren’s husband is Michael Lewis, who
wrote “Moneyball.”) In that book, Kiger
called himself “the modern-day Moonlight
Graham,” referring to the old ballplayer
whose similar career cameo was memori-
alized in the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams.”
Nothing is assured, for better or worse in
baseball.
“If you were to have told me last year that
I would have been pitching in the division
series this year against the Dodgers,” Ryan
Weathers said, “I probably would have
called you crazy. But it’s 2020. Anything can
happen.”Ryan Weathers, center, in
his first major league out-
ing, in Game 1 of the Pa-
dres’ division series. Left,
Alex Kirilloff at bat in his
debut, in the Twins’ wild-
card series. Below, Shane
McClanahan, center, after
his debut in Game 1 of the
Rays’ division series.RONALD MARTINEZ/GETTY IMAGESGetting the Call
When the Season
Is on the Line
HANNAH FOSLIEN/GETTY IMAGESSEAN M. HAFFEY/GETTY IMAGESThree players have made their major league debuts in this unusual postseason.
By JOE LEMIRE‘I couldn’t really
feel my body for
the whole first
inning, but it was
a lot of fun.’
Ryan Weathers, a pitcher
for the San Diego Padres
who made his major
league debut in relief
during Game 1 of the
N.L.D.S.