Two of baseball’s most electrifying young pitchers spent considerable time away from the mound due in part to Tommy John surgeries. On Sunday, Rays starter Brent Honeywell Jr. and White Sox reliever Michael Kopech took turns in the spotlight.
Honeywell hadn’t stepped onto a mound in a regular-season baseball game
Outside The Confines: Padres make no-hitter history
And a former Cub was along for the ride.
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There’s a bit of a popular narrative these days (and if a rare Pirates fan has stumbled over here, please avert your eyes and go right to the links), but people love to point out that Pirates pitchers go on to achieve great things when they leave the club.
It’s hard to say they’re wrong if you look at the post-Pirates careers of Gerrit Cole, Tyler Glasnow, Charlie Morton, and now Joe Musgrove. Musgrove made history on Friday night, as he pitched a no-hitter: the first in San Diego Padres history.
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Trevor Richards called up to take Honeywell’s roster spot.
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Brent Honeywell Jr. checked his Major League debut off his bucket list on Sunday: two perfect innings with a pair of strikeouts against the Yankees. The Rays would ultimately lose the game, but it was a strong showing from the 26-year-old Georgian.
Regardless, the plan was never for Honeywell to claim a rotation spot at this time. In classic Rays fashion, this was a spot start for Honeywell, a strategic call-up to share the innings load and progress a young arm in baby steps. He has been optioned back the minors, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). For Honeywell in particular, there may be added benefit to the short-stint call-up in that he gets to overcome the mental and physical hurdle of making his debut after so many setbacks.
Brent Honeywell Jr. last took the mound in a regular-season or postseason game on September 19, 2017, when he pitched in the Triple-A championship game for the Rays’ Durham affiliate. That made it 1,299 days between appearances.
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