Bruce's amazing debut tonight made me think of something. Doesn't it seem like every prospect the Reds have called up in the last year has had an amazing debut? None have been quite as big as Jay Bruce's but there have been some pretty darn good debuts. Let's take a look:
April 10th, 2007 - Josh Hamilton makes his first major league start in Arizona against the Diamondbacks. He goes 1-for-3 in the game and cracks his first major league hit, which just happened to be a homerun. He also walked twice in that game.
June 8th, 2007 - Homer Bailey is called up and makes his major league debut against the Indians. He electrifies the crowd by allowing only two runs in five innings and records his first major league win.
September 5th, 2007 - Joey Votto makes his first major league start and goes 3-for-3 with a homerun, two singles, and a walk against John Maine and the New York Mets.
April 3rd, 2008 - Johnny Cueto makes his major league debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks and carries a perfect game into the 6th inning before losing it on a solo homerun. He finishes the game by allowed only the solo homerun in seven innings and strikes out 10 batters for his first major league win.
April 6th, 2008 - While it's not his major league debut, Edinson Volquez makes his debut with the Reds after coming over in a trade from the Rangers for Josh Hamilton. Volquez lives up to expectations and holds the Phillies to just one run in 5.1 innings while striking out eight batters for his first Reds win.
May 14th, 2008 - Paul Janish is called up to replace the injured Jeff Keppinger and hits a walk-off RBI single into the right field corner to beat the Florida Marlins in the 10th inning. Janish suffers a bloody nose from the celebration.
May 27th, 2008 - Top prospect Jay Bruce is called up and has the most amazing debut I have seen by a hitter (Cueto holds that feat as a pitcher). After receiving a standing ovation he proceeds to walk on four pitches in his first atbat. He follows that with a line drive single, another walk, a RBI single off a tough lefty, and a RBI double off the wall in RF. He finishes the night 3-for-3 with two walks and reaches base all five times.