PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Jose Fernandez strode to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning during his first big league game in a pressure-packed spot against four-time All-Star closer Kenley Jansen.
The three-run homer that followed capped one of the most powerful MLB regular-season debuts in modern history.
The Venezuelan became just the seventh player since 1900 to hit two homers in his debut, and the second was a go-ahead shot that led the Diamondbacks over the Detroit Tigers 7-5 on Tuesday night.
“I returned to my days as a kid — just a dream come true,” a smiling Fernandez said through an interpreter.
In a strange twist, two of the seven two-homer debuts have occurred over the past six days. Cleveland phenom Chase DeLauter went deep twice in his first career regular-season game last Thursday after making his MLB debut in the playoffs last season.
The 22-year-old Fernandez wasn’t on the D-backs’ opening-day roster, joining the team on Monday after Pavin Smith went on the 10-day injured list with left elbow soreness. He made the most of his first opportunity, finishing with three hits and four RBIs.
Not bad for a guy ranked as the No. 27 prospect in the organization, according to MLB.com
“He deserves all this credit,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “We’re so proud of him. He’s a player who came through our system, through our academy, and it’s a great story, a great baseball story. We’ve known about Jose for a long time. We knew he was coming.”
Fernandez hit an infield single in his first big league at-bat and added a solo homer his next time up. The three-run drive that followed put him in elite company, joining DeLauter, Trevor Story (2016), J.P. Arencibia (2010), Mark Quinn (1999), Bert Campaneris (1964) and Bob Nieman (1951) as players with two-homer debuts.
“Stay calm, keep the emotions in check, I knew something like that could happen,” Fernandez said. “Just look for a pitch.”
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