It was a rough day for the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday as they fell to the Boston Red Sox 5-0 to lose their first series of the season. It was an especially rough day for left-hander Shane Drohan.

Drohan made his MLB debut on Wednesday in what would also be the first start of his major league career. It would be a short-lived outing for Drohan, though, as he lasted just 2 ⅔ innings while allowing three hits, three earned runs and four walks while striking out two batters. He earned the losing decision.

After the game, Brewers manager Pat Murphy reacted to Drohan’s tenuous debut.

“Close, yeah,” Murphy said. “Umpire was tight. He was tight. He did a good job, but I think it just puts you in a tough spot where he's behind the count. I'm proud of him, I think he did a lot of good things as a debut here — freezing cold."

The weather at Fenway Park on Thursday was 43 degrees , which did not make conditions any easier for the 27-year-old lefty.

“[He] couldn't get the grip on the baseball in the beginning,” Murphy said. “I don't know that he'll admit that to you, but we were trying to give him ways to get a little better grip.”

Drohan did admit to his struggles with gripping the ball after the game.

“Yeah, I had some trouble today with the balls,” he told reporters in the clubhouse. “Not rubbed up too well, but that's just part of it. You got to just power through it and get the job done.”

Despite a rough introduction to an MLB mound, Drohan still managed to earn some praise from his skipper.

“Anyway, I thought he did some good things,” Murphy reiterated. “But you can't walk, I don't know — how many do he walk? Five or four? Yeah, you can't walk four in 2 ⅔ [innings].”

Beyond allowing a walk, the first two innings of Drohan’s outing went well. In the bottom of the second inning, he struck out two of Boston’s three batters and forced a groundout. 

Drohan was originally drafted by the Red Sox with the 148th pick in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB Draft after playing college baseball at Florida State. In 2021 and 2022, he was named an MiLB.com Organization All-Star for his performances.

By 2023, Drohan made his way to Triple-A Worcester after going 5-0 with a 1.32 ERA in Double-A Portland. After spending two more seasons in Boston's minor-league system, he was part of the trade that brought Kyle Harrison and David Hamilton from Boston to Milwaukee in exchange for Caleb Durbin, Andruw Monasterio and Anthony Seigler on Feb. 9.

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