The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Francisco Giants 8-2 on Monday. As the score would suggest, there was nothing terribly exciting about the game, it was an easy Los Angeles victory. The real story of the game came not with the final result but with the performance of James Outman, the Dodgers right fielder playing in just his second career game.
Outman went 2-for-2, drew a walk and was hit by a pitch on Monday. In his Major League debut against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday, Outman was 3-for-4 with a home run. The Dodgers have had 18 Rookie of the Year Award winners, more than double the next best team. But none of those rookies — nor any other rookie to take the field for the Dodgers over the last 100 years — has enjoyed that kind of start to his MLB career.
As would be expected with such an iconic start to a career, the MLB world was raving over Outman’s performance.
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Outman was called up on Saturday to replace outfielder Zach McKinstry, who was sent to the Chicago Cubs in a trade for reliever Chris Martin.
Prior to his MLB debut on Sunday, Outman was having a nice year in the Minors, hitting .279/.381/.534 with 21 home runs. But most of that damage was done in Double-A Tulsa. In 22 games with Triple-A Oklahoma City, he had a much more modest total of .225/.340/.475 with only one home run.
Whatever issues that plagued him in Triple-A have not followed him to the majors. Outman has had no issues adjusting to Major League pitching. It will be interesting to see how long he can keep his hot streak going.
[Bill Shaikin, Dodger Insider]