Well it was a grueling 10 hours, but the Ian Desmond watch that began at about 9 AM yesterday morning (although it was backdated to Monday, his first time in uniform) is finally over. Yes, he did indeed start at SS on Thursday night and since it was a home game, he was actually playing in a major league game by 7:05.
He did not disappoint in his debut, that’s for sure. First, his 2nd inning AB was a deep flyout to the CF, a hit that looked like it could leave the park. In a different direction, it would have gone out. Then he got up in the 4th with Dukes on first, and hit a liner double to CF. Actually, Victorino misplayed it, it should have been a single, but who’s complaining? Here’s a little shot of him hitting that one:
Then, with 2 outs in the bottom of the 5th, and the game still within reach for Philly, he hit a three run shot. Here’s a look at that:
Here’s a link to the article with the video. Of course, in the end, this all means very little. A great debut, a record for RBIs in a debut for the franchise (with 4) a HR, a double (sorta) and good play in the field is nice. But he’s not gonna hit a homer every game, he’s not going to have this kind of game every time he plays. And frankly, Blanton isn’t a special pitcher, even though, hey, he is a major league starter. So let’s not get too excited.
However… a debut like this may do something to open the eyes of Jim Riggleman. A game like this shows him that the young guy can play, maybe he’ll figure out a way to get him in the lineup more.
It was a tremendous performance, there is no way I can explain how great a ballgame he had. He is a talented guy. We saw him exhibit that in a lot of ways. … He didn’t have the jitters. He was taking pitches. He looked like he was ready to go.
Ok, so even Riggleman seemed a bit overzealous. Good game for Desmond, hopefully he’ll get a chance to keep playing and will show everyone that he deserves to be the starter. Perhaps, even Guzman will slide over to second base for a bit? Maybe that’s too much to ask.
By the way, the fact that I can now link to Desmond’s BR page instead of MiLB page is very exciting. It’s like a Bar Mitzvah around here. Anyway, let it be known that the Ian Desmond watch took up 8 full hours, and now I must take some time to recover from the physical and mental toll that this vigil has taken on me.
This concludes Ian Desmond week at The Nationals Review, because every post managed to be about him. I’ll try to talk about something else next week. Unless of course he keeps hitting those dingers!