Corbin Burnes’ Arizona Diamondbacks tenure is underway.
The decorated starting pitcher and widely sought after free agent last winter signed a $210 million contract with the D-backs and debuted for his new team on Tuesday.
Burnes was mostly pretty good, striking out eight New York Yankees hitters in 4.1 innings, although a high pitch count and a costly defensive miscue prevented him from pitching deeper into the game.
The Yankees tagged him with four runs, but only two were earned, and the D-backs came back to win 7-5.
Burnes’ debut was amongst the highest anticipated for a new Diamondbacks pitcher given his contract, career accomplishments and the high expectations for the club to compete this season.
The Diamondbacks have a history of adding big-name pitchers to the starting rotation from Randy Johnson to Zack Greinke. How did those debuts fare? Let’s relive them.
Randy Johnson
Christopher Ruppel /Allsport
Date: April 5, 1999
Pitching line: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 6 BB, 9 Ks
Final score: Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 6
RELATED STORIES
Diamondbacks' Eugenio Suarez hits go-ahead grand slam to beat the Yankees
Corbin Burnes shows great flashes, mixed results in Diamondbacks debut
Quote from the time: “I made a decision that I felt was best for my career and my family. Only time will tell if that decision to come here will be validated, but I think we have just as good a chance of going to the World Series as the Dodgers, Angels and Rangers do,” Johnson told The Los Angeles Times.
Johnson signed a four-year, $52.4-million contract to join the second-year Diamondbacks, a blockbuster move for the infant franchise looking to make serious strides early. Johnson was a Cy Young winner, a five-time All-Star and coming off a dominant stretch with the Houston Astros. He had other suitors, but he saw Jerry Colangelo’s vision.
His first game was Opening Day on the road at Dodger Stadium, and despite six walks, Johnson effectively limited the damage and exited with a 6-2 lead. The Dodgers rallied against the Diamondbacks’ bullpen, however, and won on a walk-off home run by Raul Mondesi in the 11th inning.
Johnson threw a complete game in his next outing, a win over the Atlanta Braves.
Curt Schilling
(Photo by Eliot Schechter/Getty Images)
Date: July 28, 2000
Pitching line: 8 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 Ks
Final score: Diamondbacks 4, Marlins 1
Quote from the time: “It’s fun as hell to scoreboard watch. It’s the first time in seven years that I’ve been in a pennant race. I don’t know anything funner than coming to the park with that pressure every day,” Schilling told CBS News.
Arizona acquired three-time All-Star Schilling ahead of the trade deadline from the Philadelphia Phillies for a package of Omar Daal, Nelson Figueroa, Travis Lee and Vicente Padilla. The D-backs were in a tight race to repeat as NL West champs and sought a co-ace for Johnson in the rotation.
Schilling retired the first seven batters he faced at the Marlins and hit a double in his first at-bat with his new team. Arizona held a 3-0 lead until Schilling allowed his first run in the fifth, but he struck out Preston Wilson to strand the bases loaded. That was Florida’s best chance to score the rest of the game.
Schilling followed with two straight complete games.
Dan Haren
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Date: April 2, 2008
Pitching line: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 Ks
Final score: Reds 6, Diamondbacks 5
Quote from the time: “The team is obviously on the rise — a lot of young guys. It looks like a fun team to be on,” Haren told The Associated Press after the trade.
The Diamondbacks coming off a trip to the NLCS traded Brett Anderson, Chris Carter, Aaron Cunningham, Dana Eveland, Carlos González and Greg Smith to the Oakland A’s for Haren to bolster the rotation behind Brandon Webb.
Haren, coming off an All-Star season, made his debut in Cincinnati, and it went fine. He started with three scoreless innings but gave up a pair of homers in the fourth.
He exited with a 5-3 lead, which held until the bottom of the ninth when Edwin Encarnacion hit a walk-off home run against Brandon Lyon.
Haren’s home debut went smoother, with six innings and one earned run in a win over the Dodgers.
Zack Greinke
(AP Photo/Matt York)
Date: April 4, 2016
Pitching line: 4 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 Ks
Final score: Rockies 10, Diamondbacks 5
Quote from the time: “You guys really hyped it up and every opening day means no more than tomorrow’s game. Are we happy that we lost? No. We’re disappointed that we lost. It’s just one of 162,” manager Chip Hale said via the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Greinke signed a record $206.5 million deal with the Diamondbacks, a stunning move in which Arizona swiped a star player from the division-rival Dodgers. Greinke had just finished second in the NL Cy Young race, and the D-backs were coming off a 79-win season with some young pitching starting to break through (Patrick Corbin and Robbie Ray).
His debut started well enough, as he threw two scoreless innings and drove home the first run of the season in the bottom of the second. The game got away in the third, as 12 Rockies came up to the plate, the big blow being a Trevor Story three-run shot. Colorado scored six runs in the frame.
Greinke did not have a great first season in Arizona but followed it up with three straight All-Star selections.
Madison Bumgarner
(AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan)
Date: July 24, 2020
Pitching line: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 Ks
Final score: Padres 7, Diamondbacks 2
Quote from the time: “He got him 0-2 and just made a mistake and hung a breaking ball. But he’s our guy; he’s our No. 1 starter,” manager Torey Lovullo said.
The Diamondbacks signed longtime Giants ace Bumgarner to a five-year contract after an 85-win 2019 season, but his debut was delayed until the following summer due to MLB’s season being put on hold with the COVID-19 pandemic (and disagreements between the league and players union).
Bumgarner eventually took the mound with no fans in the stands at Petco Park, and it went well at first.
He threw five scoreless innings and recorded two outs in the sixth before a couple walks loaded the bases. An Eric Hosmer double cleared them, and the D-backs went to the bullpen.
Bumgarner only made nine starts his first season in Arizona and finished with a 6.48 ERA.
Follow @alexjweiner
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( How Corbin Burnes’ debut stacked up against fellow highly anticipated Diamondbacks pitchers )
Also on site :