SEATTLE — Tyler Olson’s Major League debut was so much of a success that the Seattle Mariners rookie pitcher didn’t really get to enjoy it.
Between making the Mariners’ opening-day roster and throwing his first pitch as a big leaguer, Olson said his nerves wouldn’t really settle until after he actually made his debut. But then when the Spokane native and former Gonzaga standout got that chance Tuesday, his debut was over before his heart rate even slowed down.
Olson, who spent the 2013 season with the Everett AquaSox after Seattle drafted him in the seventh round, came into Tuesday’s game with one out in the ninth and a runner on first. After one throw over to first base, Los Angeles Angles shortstop Erick Aybar swung at Olson’s first pitch, grounding into a 5-4-3 double play.
One pitch, two outs, and Olson’s major-league debut was finished.
“I’m still kind of on Cloud 9 right now, just living on the emotion right now,” Olson said Tuesday night. “It was pretty exciting and I’m just happy I could get out there.”
In all reality, it wasn’t the way Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon wanted Olson to make his debut, but because Olson hadn’t worked in almost a week, he came in with a runner on to face the switch-hitting Aybar.
“It’s not the ideal situation, to be honest with you,” McClendon said. “That’s not why I brought him in. He hadn’t pitched in six days, we needed to get him in there. It turned out for the best. I wish I could say I planned that, but it worked out pretty good.”
Olson became just the 16th pitcher since 1914 to face one batter and record two outs in his major-league debut, and since 1988, when pitch-by-pitch data started being tracked, he is the first pitcher to accomplish that with a single pitch.
“It was crazy,” Olson said of his debut. “It’s just a dream come true. This is something I’ve worked for for a really long time. Just to have that opportunity to come out and throw in a big-league game, I’m just speechless.”
Olson pitched 18 games for the AquaSox in 2013, going 2-4 with a 4.33 earned-run average and 48 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched.
“I definitely have good memories of being in Everett. It was my first minor-league season,” he said. “I learned a lot there and I’m taking what I learned from there and build off of it. It’s going to be a little different being here but I’m excited.”
In his first full season as a professional, Olson split time between Single-A High Desert and Double-A Jackson, primarily as a starting pitcher. He earned a spring training invite this year, then won a spot on the big-league club after throwing 122/3 innings without allowing an earned run this spring, striking out 15.
“(Making the big-league team) was definitely a goal I had,” Olson said. “It became a little more realistic as the spring went on, that I had a shot. Did I think I had a shot? Yeah. Did I think I was going to be here? It was kind of 50-50. So to actually have it happen was crazy.”
Herald writer David Krueger contributed to this story
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