DENVER -- It can often be challenging for MLB managers to find the perfect landing spot for a player to make his big league debut, especially relief pitchers. On Tuesday afternoon, Orioles skipper Craig Albernaz said he hoped not to “ambush” left-hander Luis De León and “throw him into the fire right away.”
Because of the way Tuesday night’s game at Coors Field unfolded, De León didn’t get that luxury.
De León, Baltimore’s No. 7 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, entered the contest with the score tied in the seventh inning. The 23-year-old flashed impressive stuff, but he also gave up a two-run homer to TJ Rumfield that proved to be the difference in the O’s 4-2 loss to the Rockies.
In the top of the seventh, De León began to warm up in Baltimore's bullpen when the Orioles trailed, 2-1. After Jackson Holliday tied the game with a two-out solo home run, the situation for De León’s MLB debut became more high-leverage than it initially seemed it would be.
But there weren’t too many nerves or emotions for the Barahona, Dominican Republic, native once the bullpen doors swung open and he jogged onto the field.
“I was excited, but honestly, I didn’t have too much time to think about it,” De León said via team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “My job is just to try to get in there and be ready to compete.”
For the most part, De León did exactly that.
De León threw 11 of 15 pitches for strikes during his inning of work. His sinker averaged 96.7 mph and maxed out at 97.5 mph, while his slider got Colorado’s Hunter Goodman to swing and miss for the lefty’s first career strikeout.
“He wasn't fazed at all. That was outstanding work tonight,” Albernaz said. “Obviously, the two-run shot was tough, but he made pitches. It was one bad pitch, but it was really impressive.”
The “one bad pitch” made by De León was an 0-1 slider hung over the plate that Rumfield drove a Statcast-projected 404 feet over the wall in right-center field.
“Obviously, I gave up the homer there, something I can’t take back in that moment,” De León said. “So after that happens, just controlling what I can control.”
“I thought he was in the zone really good, just hung a breaking ball,” added starter Kyle Bradish, who allowed two runs over five innings. “And that’s what guys at this level do. They hit hanging breaking balls.”
Rumfield’s homer was a two-run blast rather than a solo shot because of a play that happened earlier in the seventh inning.
Holliday committed a missed-catch error at the start of the frame -- snapping the Orioles’ 10-game streak without an error -- which allowed Mickey Moniak to get to second base. Holliday retreated backward toward the right-field line, but he overran the spot and then couldn’t corral the ball as it came down.
“They’re not exactly the easiest plays. Big leaguers make it look probably too easy. But I’ve got to make that play, and it unfortunately led to a homer, which usually stuff like that does,” Holliday said. “I wish I could have made that play for [De León], because he’d have probably had a clean inning after that. He attacked the zone. Excited to have him up here and to make plays for him.”
De León’s long-term future could be as a starting pitcher. But in mid-August, the O’s moved him to a relief role at Triple-A Norfolk because they thought he could help the big league team during the stretch run, if they were in contention.
At 69-70, the Orioles are only 1 1/2 games behind the Guardians (70-68) for the third American League Wild Card spot amid a crowded race. So Baltimore decided to call up De León amid a flurry of roster moves as active rosters expanded from 26 players to 28 on Tuesday.
This likely won’t be the only time the O’s use De León in a big situation, either.
“We're more than comfortable going there with him,” Albernaz said, “and he threw the ball extremely well.”
De León kept the ball from his first strikeout and planned to give it to his mother, Lydia Ramirez, the next time he sees her. His family is currently in the Dominican Republic, but he hopes to get them visas so they can come watch him pitch in the U.S. by next year.
“She really does mean everything,” De León said. “Her and my dad.”