Cristian Mena made his long awaited major league debut Wednesday vs. the Dodgers. Acquired by the Diamondbacks in February in a deal that sent outfielder Dominic Fletcher to the Chicago White Sox, Mena finally earned an opportunity after 16 starts with Triple-A Reno.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!It couldn’t have been a tougher ask for a 21-year-old pitcher making his major league debut. The Dodgers are a tough enough lineup as is, but adding in the intimidating road environment Dodger Stadium, it had the recipe for disaster. In total, the bottom line numbers won’t look good, as he allowed four runs in three innings with more walks than strikeouts, but at the end of the day there were some good and bad moments to take away from his start.
“What can I say, that’s something I’ve working for, a dream come true,” said Mena through team interpreter Alex Arpiza. “It didn’t some go well in some aspects, but what I can I say, it was a dream come true. That’s something I will never forget.”
The first inning was a disaster, as Mena struggled to land pitches in the strike zone. Shohei Ohtani rolled a ground ball between Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte for a leadoff single. Six straight balls, with some very wild misses, put Will Smith on and Freddie Freeman in a 2-0 count. Freeman unloaded on a center-cut fastball, putting the Dodgers ahead 3-1. Teoscar Hernández followed suit on a curveball that hung over the inner third of the plate. Four batters into his career he surrendered four runs and it was looking to be a disaster for the Diamondbacks.
After the damage was done, the Dodgers threatened to score more. Andy Pages singled to make it five straight hitters to reach. However, that’s as far as they got in the inning. Mena retired the next three hitters, including Chris Taylor on a 96 MPH four-seamer up and away for his first career strikeout.
Once the inning was over, pitching coach Brent Strom came over and had a long discussion with the young right-hander, with catcher José Herrera helping translate.
“He just told me to forget about what happened and refresh it,” Mena told Todd Walsh on Dbacks TV. “Just go out there and throw it like nothing happened, like a new inning. The tough one just happened, just go out there and forget, flush it, and do your best.”
Mena bounced back for a clean second inning, including an impressive strikeout of Ohtani. Control issues surfaced again in the third after the Diamondbacks tied the game, where his mound composure unraveled for a bit. Two walks and a balk put the go-ahead run at third. However, he got bailed out of the inning as Jake McCarthy came in to field a line drive and then threw home to get Freddie Freeman at home plate. That would be the closest the Dodgers would get to scoring for the rest of the game.
Looking at his raw stuff, Mena showed improved velocity. Perhaps it was adrenaline pumping, but his average fastball averaged 95.6 MPH with good carry. That was more than two ticks above his average with Reno. The curveball showed some snap to it, sitting in the mid-80s with sharp, downward break. For much of his outing, Mena relied on his four-seamer, sinker, and curveball, as the three pitches accounted for 60 of the 70 pitches he threw on the night.
However, despite the better than advertised stuff, he struggled to locate. Of his 70 pitches, he generated 10 swings and misses and landed just six called strikes on the night. There were some tough calls on the rookie, as one of his walks came on a 3-2 curveball that appeared to hit the top of the strike zone to Hernández in that third inning. Controlling his nerves seemed to be an issue, as he looked overwhelmed at times, but at the end of the day he kept the Diamondbacks in the game despite the potential for it to unravel for him.
Mena’s night got cut short after three innings, but the offense picked him up afterward. With both starting pitchers knocked out after three innings, the Diamondbacks teed off against the Dodgers bullpen. Christian Walker continued his dominance in Dodger Stadium, with his four hits leading a relentless, 16-hit attack by Arizona in support of the rookie right-hander.
“The offense was great today, shoutout to Walker, he was awesome today,” said Mena. “That made me feel good. Tied game, I just go out there and compete. It stayed a tied game and we won.”
Mena will get another chance against the Braves on July 8, this time in his home ballpark. With Jordan Montgomery on the shelf until the All-Star break with a knee injury, he’ll get at least two more chances to show what he can do. With those two starts coming at home, there should be a little bit more of a comfort zone.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
