WASHINGTON -- And for your Major League debut, you’ll be facing the best hitter on your playoff-contending hometown team. Think you can strike him out twice?
No pressure, right?
Nationals left-hander Jackson Kent attended Lake Park High School in Roselle, Ill., around 30 miles from Wrigley Field. Yet he looked unrattled as he navigated through the Cubs’ lineup in his first big league appearance.
Kent, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Nationals’ No. 8 prospect, allowed three runs over four-plus innings on three hits and five walks on Wednesday against the Cubs at Nationals Park. Kent struck out six in his debut, but only 37 of his 78 pitches were strikes.
Kent’s first big league batter was left-handed slugger Pete Crow-Armstrong, who entered the game with a .939 OPS against southpaws this season. Five pitches later, Kent had recorded his first career strikeout, capped off with a called third strike on a 95.8 mph fastball.
“Overall, the ability to mix speeds, to throw strikes, to have a little bit of deception -- especially with the extension -- it provides him an opportunity to get swing and miss and whiff in the zone,” manager Blake Butera said before the game.
Kent then walked Seiya Suzuki on six pitches and Alex Bregman on four. Facing traffic on the bases, Kent calmly fanned Carson Kelly with a changeup in a 1-2 count. After throwing ball one to Michael Busch, Kent fought back to strike him out on a fourth-pitch foul tip and end the first inning.
Kent struck out Crow-Armstrong not once, but twice. In their second matchup of the game, Kent needed only four pitches to catch Crow-Armstrong on a foul tip to begin the third.
“He’s a strike thrower,” said third baseman Brady House, who played with Kent in Triple-A Rochester this season. “It felt like the games were going by super fast when he was pitching because he was just quick and efficient. He plays with intent, for sure.”
The Nationals entrusted Kent to face Crow-Armstrong a third time in the fifth inning with no outs and runners on first and second. Kent allowed an RBI double into right field that turned out to be the final batter of his debut.
Kent exited to a standing ovation from both sides of the crowd -- Nationals home fans and Cubs fans in blue recognizing the local connection.
Kent is the fifth player on the Nationals to make his Major League debut this season, getting the promotion after Washington designated Miles Mikolas for assignment earlier Wednesday. He’s also the 31st pitcher in team history (2005-present) originally signed or drafted and developed by the Nats to start a game for them. The Nationals selected Kent in the fourth round of the 2024 Draft out of Arizona.
Kent was 9-4 with a 3.72 ERA in 20 starts between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester this year. At the time of his promotion, he led the Nats’ farm system in opponents’ batting average (.216) and on-base percentage (.277).
“There's a lot of guys in the Minor Leagues that have a lot of upside,” said Butera. “But you might see one really good outing, and the next time the same exact guy goes out there, it's totally different. The thing with Jackson this year, it almost feels like he's giving you that quality start every time he's gone out there. So the consistency is a huge part of being able to pitch at this level.”