Into the deep end: debuting as an opening day starter

Gcar Player Date Tm Opp Rslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BOP Pos
1 Jose Abreu 2014-03-31 CHW MIN W 5-3 4 4 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 1B
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/2/2014.

With the above game log, Jose Abreu became the 552nd player since 1914 to make his major-league debut as a starter on opening day, and the only one to do so in 2014. That’s 552 out of more than 14,000 major-leaguers who have debuted in the past 101 seasons (and only the eighth of those 552 with a 4-1-2-1 box score line).

The great majority of major-leaguers debut less auspiciously, perhaps called up mid-season to replace an injured or faltering vet, or as one of a number of hopefuls trying to impress in September. Even those who make the big club coming out of spring training will often see their first action a few games into the season, perhaps as a defensive replacement or pinch-runner, or possibly in a pinch-hitting role in a blow-out game. Only a very few debut in the starting lineup on opening day, baseball’s equivalent of being thrown in the deep end to see if you can swim.

After the jump, more on players who begin their careers as opening day starters.

Here’s a chart showing the number of players in each season since 1914 who made their career debut in the starting lineup on opening day. The line which closely follows the pattern of the bars is the same number represented as a percentage of all players making their career debut in that season.

Career Debuts as Opening Day Starter

Before expansion, upwards of 5% of debuts would be as an opening day starter, compared to less than 3% over the past 25 years.

In which positions have players most often debuted as an opening day starter? Here’s a chart showing the totals by team and position. The highlighted cells are the teams with the most such players at each position.

Career Debuts OD Starter by Team-Position
Perhaps surprisingly, middle infielders are the preferred positions for players debuting as opening day starters. But, on second thought, that may not be so surprising as teams are probably more likely to be strongly invested in players at positions with talent scarcity. Pitcher and DH are the rarest positions – no pitcher has made his career debut on opening day since 1943, and only Eddie Murray and Bubba Trammell have done so at DH, a position neither player specialized in for his career (though Murray did have that role his entire first season)

Adding together their 3 cities, the Athletics top the list with 38 such players, including their time in Philadelphia when they had the most such players in the pre-expansion era. Minnesota tops the expansion-era teams, with Atlanta and Kansas City having the fewest such players among teams in operation prior to 1993.

One might surmise that weaker teams, with fewer options, would be more likely to resort to the rawest of rookies for their opening day roster. Let’s see if that’s the case.

Career Debuts OD Starter by Team-WPCT
Certainly, more players have debuted as OD starters on weaker teams than on stronger ones, though the difference is not as large as I would have guessed. The Yankees have bucked the trend, debuting most of their keystone rookies on strong clubs (of course, the Yankees have had comparatively few weak clubs on which rookies could have debuted).

Who are the most notable players to have begun their careers as an opening day starter. Here’s the top 20 by career WAR.

Rk Player WAR/pos From To Age G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
1 Hank Aaron 142.6 1954 1976 20-42 3298 13941 2174 3771 624 98 755 2297 1402 1383 .305 .374 .555 .928
2 Ted Williams 123.1 1939 1960 20-41 2292 9788 1798 2654 525 71 521 1839 2021 709 .344 .482 .634 1.116
4 Mickey Mantle 109.7 1951 1968 19-36 2401 9907 1676 2415 344 72 536 1509 1733 1710 .298 .421 .557 .977
5 Frank Robinson 107.2 1956 1976 20-40 2808 11742 1829 2943 528 72 586 1812 1420 1532 .294 .389 .537 .926
6 Eddie Mathews 96.4 1952 1968 20-36 2391 10100 1509 2315 354 72 512 1453 1444 1487 .271 .376 .509 .885
7 Carl Yastrzemski 96.1 1961 1983 21-43 3308 13992 1816 3419 646 59 452 1844 1845 1393 .285 .379 .462 .841
8 Albert Pujols 93.1 2001 2014 21-34 1961 8558 1426 2349 526 15 492 1499 1067 838 .321 .409 .598 1.008
9 Ken Griffey 83.6 1989 2010 19-40 2671 11304 1662 2781 524 38 630 1836 1312 1779 .284 .370 .538 .907
10 Rod Carew 81.0 1967 1985 21-39 2469 10550 1424 3053 445 112 92 1015 1018 1028 .328 .393 .429 .822
11 Jeff Bagwell 79.6 1991 2005 23-37 2150 9431 1517 2314 488 32 449 1529 1401 1558 .297 .408 .540 .948
12 Pete Rose 79.1 1963 1986 22-45 3562 15890 2165 4256 746 135 160 1314 1566 1143 .303 .375 .409 .784
13 Robin Yount 77.0 1974 1993 18-37 2856 12249 1632 3142 583 126 251 1406 966 1350 .285 .342 .430 .772
14 Ozzie Smith 76.5 1978 1996 23-41 2573 10778 1257 2460 402 69 28 793 1072 589 .262 .337 .328 .666
15 Paul Molitor 75.4 1978 1998 21-41 2683 12167 1782 3319 605 114 234 1307 1094 1244 .306 .369 .448 .817
16 Al Simmons 68.7 1924 1944 22-42 2215 9518 1507 2927 539 149 307 1828 615 737 .334 .380 .535 .915
17 Eddie Murray 68.3 1977 1997 21-41 3026 12817 1627 3255 560 35 504 1917 1333 1516 .287 .359 .476 .836
18 Buddy Bell 66.1 1972 1989 20-37 2405 10009 1151 2514 425 56 201 1106 836 776 .279 .341 .406 .747
19 Richie Ashburn 63.4 1948 1962 21-35 2189 9736 1322 2574 317 109 29 586 1198 571 .308 .396 .382 .778
20 Ken Boyer 62.8 1955 1969 24-38 2034 8272 1104 2143 318 68 282 1141 713 1017 .287 .349 .462 .810
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/3/2014.

Number 3 on the above list omitted because he is on the list below.

Rk Player WAR From To Age G GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% SV IP BB SO ERA ERA+
3 Lefty Grove 110.0 1925 1941 25-41 616 457 298 35 123 300 141 .680 55 3940.2 1187 2266 3.06 148
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/3/2014.

Fairly compelling testimony that an opening day start to a career is a sign of a player of whom a team rightly has high expectations. Twenty out of 552 players (3.6%) with 60 career WAR compares rather favorably to an overall rate of just shy of 1% of the 14,122 players to debut from 1914 to 2013 (137 of those 14,122 compiled 60 career WAR, 98 position players and 39 pitchers).

We saw earlier that the proportion of players to begin a career in recent years as an opening day starter is much less than half of those who did so prior to expansion. Has that increased level of discrimination been borne out by career results? Here’s a table showing proportions of career debuts as OD starters by decade and career WAR level.

Career Debuts OD Starter by WAR-Decade
The highlighted area from the 1960s to 1980s does indeed show that having smaller pools of careers beginning with an OD start has correlated with larger proportions of those pools achieving higher career WAR. In particular, over half of the retired OD starters who compiled over 75 WAR debuted during those 3 decades.

But, the results from the 1990s (which are complete) fail to impress, while the 2000s results will start looking a bit better once some of these active players have retired.

Rk Player WAR From To Age G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
1 Albert Pujols 93.1 2001 2014 21-34 1961 8558 1426 2349 526 15 492 1499 1067 838 .321 .409 .598 1.008
2 Ichiro Suzuki 57.8 2001 2013 27-39 2061 9278 1261 2742 323 83 111 695 544 876 .319 .361 .414 .775
3 Joe Mauer 44.2 2004 2014 21-31 1180 5070 689 1414 282 20 105 634 618 564 .322 .404 .468 .872
4 Ian Kinsler 34.6 2006 2014 24-32 1068 4800 749 1148 249 23 157 541 462 568 .273 .349 .455 .804
5 J.J. Hardy 23.5 2005 2014 22-31 1120 4605 550 1095 207 13 158 527 324 653 .260 .313 .428 .740
6 Alex Gordon 22.0 2007 2014 23-30 878 3761 479 895 210 20 102 402 355 782 .268 .344 .435 .779
7 Dan Uggla 19.2 2006 2014 26-34 1230 5222 734 1108 233 16 231 680 596 1256 .246 .340 .458 .798
9 Alexei Ramirez 18.2 2008 2014 26-32 916 3728 428 961 160 13 84 408 189 439 .278 .316 .405 .721
11 Elvis Andrus 16.6 2009 2014 20-25 760 3303 432 799 107 27 18 264 269 441 .274 .339 .348 .687
14 Alejandro De Aza 5.1 2007 2014 23-30 426 1655 224 407 79 15 32 151 126 338 .274 .336 .412 .748
15 Jayson Nix 3.5 2008 2014 25-31 427 1382 141 269 55 2 37 126 105 345 .219 .290 .357 .647
17 Jeff Baker 1.2 2005 2014 24-33 619 1662 207 404 95 11 48 200 119 396 .266 .320 .438 .758
23 Jordan Schafer -2.0 2009 2014 22-27 335 1159 136 230 36 8 11 65 120 312 .227 .311 .311 .622
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/3/2014.

The increased level of discrimination in which players get to debut as an OD starter can also be seen at the low end of the spectrum. Sixty-two of the 552 players (11%) played just a single season, but only these 10 did so in the expansion era, including just one in the past 25 years.
Career Debuts OD Starter One Season ONLY Since 1961

 

Finally, which opening day games featured the most starters making a career debut.

Gcar Player Date ▴ Tm Opp Rslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BOP Pos Summary
1 Ernie Smith 1930-04-17 CHW CLE W 8-7 6 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 SS
1 Johnny Riddle 1930-04-17 CHW CLE W 8-7 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 C
1 Jimmy Moore 1930-04-17 CHW CLE W 8-7 5 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 6 LF
1 Smead Jolley 1930-04-17 CHW CLE W 8-7 5 5 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 RF
1 Jack Graham 1946-04-16 BRO BSN L 3-5 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1B
1 Carl Furillo 1946-04-16 BRO BSN L 3-5 4 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 CF
1 Dick Whitman 1946-04-16 BRO BSN L 3-5 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 LF
1 Ferrell Anderson 1946-04-16 BRO BSN L 3-5 3 3 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 C
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/3/2014.

The 1930 White Sox (who lost 92 games) and the 1946 Dodgers (who won 96!) each debuted four players in their OD starting lineup. That is also the record for both teams, shared with these games.

Gcar Player Date Tm ▴ Opp Rslt PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BOP Pos Summary
1 Turkey Gross 1925-04-14 BOS PHA L 8-9 5 3 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 6 SS
1 Billy Rogell 1925-04-14 BOS PHA L 8-9 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 7 2B
1 Lefty Grove 1925-04-14 PHA BOS W 9-8 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 P
1 Jim Poole 1925-04-14 PHA BOS W 9-8 5 4 2 3 0 0 1 2 1 0 6 1B
1 Dick Porter 1929-04-16 CLE DET W 5-4 5 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 5 RF
1 Earl Averill 1929-04-16 CLE DET W 5-4 5 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 CF
1 Nolen Richardson 1929-04-16 DET CLE L 4-5 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 7 SS
1 Dale Alexander 1929-04-16 DET CLE L 4-5 5 5 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 1B
1 Dick Gray 1958-04-15 LAD SFG L 0-8 4 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 3B
1 Orlando Cepeda 1958-04-15 SFG LAD W 8-0 5 5 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 5 1B
1 Willie Kirkland 1958-04-15 SFG LAD W 8-0 5 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 RF
1 Jim Davenport 1958-04-15 SFG LAD W 8-0 5 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 3B
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/3/2014.

It took only two weeks (and a 3 for 32 start) for 29 year-old “Turkey” Gross to go from an opening day start to getting his outright release from the Red Sox organization. But, his triple on opening day ties him with 16 others for the most 3-baggers in a career debut as an OD starter.

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Albanate
Albanate
10 years ago

Nowadays, we’re less likely to see this happen because of service time rules and the desire to keep another year of control over a young player. So even the best rookies don’t start until a month into the season. Something really needs to be done to change that.

Paul E
Paul E
10 years ago
Reply to  Albanate

Agreed. I believe the Atlanta Braves with Jason Heyward breaking spring training with the big club was probably the last example of a “true” major leaguer with a strong shot at producing actually making it north. The Rays held Longoria back in 2008 when he was the best player, far and wide, in the entire organization (after he definitely proved it in spring training, no less). They went to the World Series, anyway, after calling him up in May. 🙁 But, I don’t know how you enforce it unless you make it something like July 1st and making it prohibitively… Read more »

Hartvig
Hartvig
10 years ago

How is it possible that I’ve never heard of someone called Shooty Babitt and does anyone know why he didn’t get another shot in the majors? He put up 0.3 WAR in less than a third of a seasons worth of plate appearances at the major league level as a 22 year old and played (or at least hit) very well at the Triple A level the following 2 seasons. He seemed to have some speed and in his final minor league season he walked twice as often as he struck out. Hard to understand why a seemingly decent fielding… Read more »

RJ
RJ
10 years ago
Reply to  Hartvig

It’s possible he was a terrible fielder. The following link has him listed under the header “Iron Glove”, with a quote from Billy Martin saying “If you ever see Shooty Babitt play second base for me again, I want you to Shooty me.”

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3vYKjyXmt0YC&pg=PA169&dq=shooty+babitt&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pZGvUofjIJKpkAeHmYH4BQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=shooty%20babitt&f=false

Abbott
Abbott
10 years ago
Reply to  Hartvig

He does the pre- and post-game shows for the A’s now. Great dude.

oneblankspace
10 years ago
Reply to  Hartvig

I knew of Shooty Babitt.

I had the Strat-O-Matic Baseball set based on the 1981 season.

He was rated as a 4 defensively at second, while Dave McKay was a 2 at second and at third.

mosc
mosc
10 years ago

Who were the three pitchers? Grove and who else?

donburgh
donburgh
10 years ago

Jim Bagby 4/18/38 for Red Sox and Al Gerheauser 4/24/43 for Phillies.

Russell
Russell
10 years ago

Which are the best OD debutantes for each team? And which turned out to be the biggest busts in terms of lowest career WAR and hype before the player’s debut (if you remember hearing about the player)?

Did the Yankees not have a better established starting pitcher rather than letting Lefty Grove debut on OD?

Which were the shortest careers for players debuting on OD?

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
10 years ago
Reply to  Russell

Joe Buzas made his ML debut on Opening Day for the Yankees in 1945. His “career” lasted for 30 games.

RJ
RJ
10 years ago
Reply to  Russell

Brian Bocock made his debut as the Opening Day shortstop for the Giants in in 2008. Bocock lasted 32 games before being sent back down to the minors, having batted .143 and going 12 games without a hit. He resurfaced for 6 games with the Phillies in 2010, failing to get on base in 5 PAs. He is still playing in AAA, currently with the Royals organisation.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bococbr01.shtml