Rookie catcher makes surprise MLB debut after call from skipper at hotel

DENVER -- The Rays found themselves caught between catchers on Monday. They acquired Liam Hicks from the Marlins, but he couldn’t get to Denver until Tuesday. They traded Hunter Feduccia to the Dodgers, but he’d been scheduled to start the series opener at Coors Field.

Enter Kenny Piper.

Piper, 28, made his unexpected Major League debut in the Rays’ 13-9 romp over the Rockies, coming up straight from Double-A Montgomery to catch all nine innings and pick up his first Major League hit.

"Surreal, man. It's a blast to play with these guys,” Piper said afterward. “That moment was unlike any that I've ever felt before. … When I got that first hit and the crowd was cheering for me and my teammates were cheering for me, that moment was one that I'll never forget.”

It was a temporary arrangement, and Piper was made aware of that from the beginning. His time in the Majors lasted just one day, as he was optioned back to Double-A Montgomery on Tuesday afternoon as the Rays activated Hicks and newly acquired reliever Tyler Wells.

But Piper will remain with the Rays as part of their taxi squad for the rest of their series against the Rockies. And he’ll forever have a story to tell about his Major League debut.

“I don’t know that I could put to words what my thoughts are right now,” he said before the game. “This is something that I’ve dreamt of my whole life. It feels very surreal. Been just trying to slow down and catch my breath since I got the news.”

It took a long time to get here. Piper, 28, was selected by the Rays in the 18th round of the 2021 Draft out of Columbia College of Missouri. A strong defensive catcher with some power in his bat, he moved quickly to reach Double-A in 2023. He moved up to Triple-A for parts of 2024 and ‘25, but he had spent this entire season back in Double-A -- his fourth year in Montgomery -- until this week.

After playing for Montgomery on Sunday, Piper was told to fly to Colorado and stay at the Rays’ team hotel … but he hadn’t been called up. Not yet, anyway. He was on standby.

Then the call came. It was around 4 p.m. on Monday when manager Kevin Cash buzzed Piper’s phone and asked, “Where are you?” Piper was at the hotel, as instructed, with his wife and 1 1/2-year-old daughter. “Get over here,” Cash said.

Just like that, he was in the visitors' clubhouse at Coors Field, hugging his teammates. Then he was in the starting lineup, working with longtime batterymate Ian Seymour on a night he’ll never forget.

“We were all super pumped for him, because he's been such a special player in the organization for quite some time,” Cash said. “We all know him very well, and he got an opportunity and made the most of it.”

The Rays’ excitement for Piper was evident. Seymour found out during his pregame pitcher’s meeting that Piper was coming up to catch him, and he broke into a big grin as he said he was “selfishly” excited he got to be a part of his friend’s big moment.

“Coming up and through the Minor Leagues together, we have all that familiarity with each other,” Seymour said. “To see him perform the way he did and grind to get here, you couldn’t be happier for him.”

Piper worked a walk in his first plate appearance and scored his first Major League run on a sacrifice fly by Yandy Díaz. He was hitless until his final at-bat of the night, when he smacked a two-out single up the middle for his first big league hit.

It’s hard to say who was more excited, Piper or his teammates.

“He did a heck of a job,” Cash said. “When he got the hit there at the end, the dugout erupted.”