Debut in the books, Mike Bolsinger prepares for first start
Apr 16, 2014, 8:58 PM | Updated: 8:58 pm
Mike Bolsinger didn’t expect anything to come out of a steak dinner with some of his teammates.
When it came time for the Triple-A players to pay the bill, the group received a call from their manager Phil Nevin with a suggestion.
“Why don’t you make the big leaguer pay for the dinner,” Nevin said over the speakerphone.
After a moment of uncertainty, Bolsinger realized his teammates, that many of whom are former major leaguers, were in on the planned phone call.
He would be called up to the Arizona Diamondbacks Monday, and make his major league debut later that day.
Bolsinger allowed two runs on six hits while striking out three in three innings of relief work against the New York Mets.
He is scheduled to start Saturday in Los Angeles when the Dodgers host the D-backs.
After his first appearance as a D-back, Bolsinger talked with Burns and Gambo of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM about what it meant for him and his upcoming weekend start.
“Usually whenever I go out and start, you get that excited nervousness,” Bolsinger said. “Of course this time it was a little bit different being my first time in the major leagues. You just have to try and control it as much as you can. I tried to do that and it was a fun time. You have to soak that kind of stuff in because it’s only going to happen once in your life and it was a great time.”
The 26-year-old posted a 2-0 record and a 1.42 ERA in 12.2 innings with Triple-A Reno to begin this season.
Even though his first appearance for the D-backs came in relief work, Bolsinger said it was important to get his first major league experience under his belt.
“The difference is coming out of the bullpen and now I’m starting a game,” Bolsinger said. “I’ll probably still be nervous for that but at least you get in there and know what to expect when you get on the mound. You kind of know the pace of the game and everything that can happen.
“It was big to get out there to keep me in rotation, because I was supposed to pitch that day in Triple-A. I’m pretty big on keeping on schedule because it keeps my mechanics and everything just fluid.”
