In the grand scheme of things, a player making his MLB debut isn’t an uncommon occurrence. Every single year, a couple hundred players get the call up to the majors and appear in their first ever MLB game. Just because it’s a common occurrence doesn’t mean it’s not a life changing day for every single one of them.
On Tuesday night at Angel Stadium, former Iowa starting pitcher and Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Adam Mazur stepped on to the mound for the San Diego Padres. Fans of the Woodbury High Royals, South Dakota State Jackrabbits and Iowa Hawkeyes, all watched eagerly. Meanwhile, in attendance at Angel Stadium, over 40 friends and family, including Adam’s parents, Mark and Debbie Mazur watched his first career start.
“It’s very surreal to be sitting here watching my son play major league baseball,” said Mark Mazur on the Padres broadcast. “It’s just beyond the biggest dream I could ever have.”
“When he called us, he was just so very proud, but he also went right to business. (Adam said) I can’t talk long, I have to go throw a bullpen. He went right to work.”
Earlier in the week, the Padres normal starting rotation took at hit with Joe Musgrove (elbow) and Yu Darvish (hamstring) landing on the injured list. Just 688 days after being selected with the 53rd overall pick in the 2nd Round of the 2022 MLB Draft, Adam Mazur got the call from San Diego. In the minors, Adam looked the part, posting a 3.18 ERA over 28 combined starts in High-A, Double-A and Triple-A, however, major league baseball is the ultimate test.
The former Friday ace for Rick Heller looked calm, cool and collected on the mound. Tthe moment did not look too big. Mazur dealt with some fastball command issues, likely due to the nerves of his first MLB start, but he worked around it and delivered a start worthy of a win. He allowed just one run on two hits over 6.0 innings, including two strikeouts and four walks. Adam averaged just 12.8 pitches per inning and threw 46 of his 77 (59.7%) pitches for strikes.
“Just getting through the nerves,” Mazur said. “You only get one of these, and the first couple innings you can definitely feel it. But I just kind of settled in and went back to my attack plan.”
Mazur put up a zero in his first inning, thanks to some help from a diving catch from left fielder Jurickson Profar and a 1-4-3 double player started by Adam himself. In the second inning, Mazur walked Willie Calhoun on five pitches to begin the second inning and threw first pitch ball to Logan O’Hoppe. Padres third baseman Manny Machado called time and walked over to the mound to offer some words of encouragement to Adam.
“Nobody was talking to Adam Mazur before this ballgame in the clubhouse, which is customary,” said the announces on the Padres broadcast. “For the most part, everybody did, but Manny Machado went out of his way to put his arm around Mazur and you could tell he giving him a little pep talk…It was really a great moment of leadership that Manny showed.”
Adam went on to put put together a quality start and he gave the Padres a chance to win the game. He earned his first career strikeout in the second, getting Jo Adell looking on a slider at the bottom of the zone. Although Mazur walked four batters, he was able to combat that by inducing three ground ball double plays. That tied a Padres record for most in a debut outing.
“I would’ve liked to have been in the zone more, attacked with the fastball a little bit better,” Mazur said. “But excited with how I battled out of it.”
Unfortunately, the San Diego offense did not do enough to get the job done. They scored just two runs on seven hits, while a two-run double from Zach Neto in the seventh inning gave the Angels the lead. Los Angeles picked up a 4-2 win, but that did not diminish the effort by Adam on the mound.
“Mazur was fantastic,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt after the game. “You can’t ask for much more…He clearly did his part to get another start.”
“You don’t ever want to go back to anywhere else. It’s a lot of fun up here,” said Mazur. “It’s definitely a feeling you want to have over and over and over again.”
If Mazur does earn another start, it would likely come on Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He would become the first Iowa pitcher to earn multiple starts in the MLB since Wes Obermueller made seven starts for the Florida Marlins during the 2007 season. On top of that, Adam became the fifth former Iowa player under Rick Heller to make their MLB debut joining Matt Dermody (2016), Nick Allgeyer (2021), Mason McCoy (2023) and Tyler Cropley (2023).
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