The 24-year-old catcher delivered a poised performance against the Atlanta Braves, overcoming pre-game nerves to provide a rare bright spot for a struggling San Francisco Giants lineup seeking mid-season sparks.
While the San Francisco Giants may not have taken game one of a three-game slate against the Atlanta Braves, Drew Cavanaugh's MLB debut went according to plan.
The 24-year-old went 1-for-3 and drew a walk in his first four major league at-bats.
Cavanaugh adds another lefty bat to a Giants lineup that is doing whatever they can to try and get back on track. Clearly, things are still nowhere where they need to be with the All-Star break quickly approaching.
Now 33-48, the Giants are still 1.5 games out from being last place in the National League West. At the end of the day, Cavanaugh did his part, and now it's up to Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey and Co. to figure out what this team is going to do come the trade deadline.
Cavanaugh Records a Hit and Walk in MLB Debut
"It’s definitely a lot of emotions and a lot of exciting ones,” Cavanaugh told MLB.com before the game. “The nerves set in a little bit more when I walked in. But I would say it’s more excitement than nerves. It’s my dream coming true, so it’s awesome.”
After the conclusion of the Giants two-run loss, the former 17th-round draft pick discussed getting his first taste of the big leagues, "It felt great. I hit it and then I saw it was going to go through. Everything after that was pretty much a blur. But what a moment. All those years, practicing and playing for that moment. It was a surreal moment.”
In what was the biggest vote of confidence of all, manager Tony Vitello had nothing but great things to say about Cavanaugh's performance, leaving the skipper in good spirits despite the team's loss.
Vitello on Cavanaugh's Debut
"At the plate as a hitter, I thought he looked comfortable. Obviously, he was productive, too, but he took confident swings. You didn’t see anything out of place. He wasn’t out of control or anything like that," Vitello said.
He added, "I’d like to give him a resounding compliment on the catching side of things, you didn’t notice him... You didn’t realize that he’d just gotten here this morning and he was back there, if that makes sense. That’s not a vote for him for the All-Star team or anything like that, but I think it speaks to how good he was back there.”
Seeing as Cavanaugh was brought in to catch, building that rapport and confidence with the Giants pitching staff is going to take time. Overall, San Francisco's pitching staff allowed three runs on eight hits, striking out six and walking two.
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