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. After playing for Montgomery on Sunday, the former 18th-round Draft pick 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. 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.”