Inside the Article:
While the game’s results weren’t what the Detroit Tigers were looking for against the division rival Chicago White Sox, it proved to be a memorable performance for rookie pitcher Reese Olson. Making his Major League debut, he turned in an absolute gem of a performance that will live on in his memory and his family’s forever.
Reese Olson took a no-hitter into the 6th inning
Olson made sure to make his first appearance in the Majors a memorable one. Throwing a total of 89 picthes and striking out six, he became the first Tigers pitcher to toss at least five no-hit innings in his MLB debut since Bill Slayback in June of 1972 when he threw a total seven no-hit innings.
“It’s a day I’ll never forget,” Olson said. “It was great to have my family and a bunch of friends here to experience it with me. As far as my outing, I thought I did pretty well. Maybe got a little tired in the sixth inning. Other than that, everything was working for me.”
His debut on baseball’s biggest stage seemed like a far-cry crom his Triple-A numbers, a 6.0 ERA and 1.7 WHIP. But Reese admits that his struggles helped to fuel him.
“Yeah, my early struggles in Triple-A helped me a lot tonight,” he said. “Just calming down and not getting sped up. That was one of the biggest lessons I learned in Triple-A. I’m happy that I struggled for that month for the experience. So I knew how to react out there.”
Manager A.J. Hinch was certainly satisfied with the young rookie’s performance.
“I’m happy with Reese,” Hinch said. He was calm, in control and he was nasty. He should take away a lot of pride that came in showed he could pitch at this level. His first start against a team that thrives on momentum and he never really gave them any momentum until his last inning.”
“I told him when I took him out, I can’t wait to give you the ball again in five days.”
The fact that his team wasn’t able to generate any offense to support Reese was a source of frustration for Hinch, as the Tigers stranded a total of nine runners in scoring position.
“From a team perspective, we didn’t push anything across when we had multiple runners on (base) in four of the nine innings,” he said said. “That’s pretty frustrating. We needed a big hit or just advancing 90 (feet) and creating some opportunities for ourselves.”
Wrapping It Up: Let’s hope it was the start of something special for Reese Olson!
Hinch has already stated that he can’t wait for Reese’s next start. We in the Motor City have certainly enjoyed some great young pitchers throughout the years.
Let’s hope that last night’s game was the start of something special for Reese Olson!
