Since the lowly days of the Devil Rays, good starting pitching debuts have been few and miles between. As of September 6th, 2009 the Rays (and Devil Rays) have had a combined 65 different starting pitchers ever throw a baseball for the team. The numbers range from Scott Kazmir's team leading 144 starts to Juan Guzman and his 1. Using Bill James' Game Score, we can see just how good great Wade Davis' Ray Debut is compared to every other debut in team history.
Pitcher Name | Year | Game Score |
Doug Waechter | September 3, 2003 | 88 |
Wade Davis | September 6, 2009 | 75 |
Steve Trachsel | April 3, 2000 | 74 |
Paul Wilson | August 26, 2000 | 71 |
Jason Standridge | August 9, 2001 | 69 |
Hideo Nomo | April 9, 2005 | 68 |
Geremi Gonzalez | May 17, 2003 | 66 |
Dwight Gooden | April 15, 2000 | 65 |
Tony Saunders | April 2, 1998 | 63 |
Victor Zambrano | August 5, 2002 | 62 |
Seth McClung | April 25, 2003 | 61 |
Dennis Springer | April 4, 1998 | 60 |
Jeff Niemann | April 13, 2008 | 60 |
Scott Kazmir | August 23, 2004 | 60 |
Paul Abbott | April 7, 2004 | 57 |
Casey Fossum | May 17, 2005 | 56 |
Mark Hendrickson | April 9, 2004 | 55 |
Dan Wheeler | September 1, 1999 | 54 |
David Price | September 22, 2008 | 54 |
Bryan Rekar | July 9, 1998 | 53 |
Edwin Jackson | April 22, 2006 | 52 |
Carlos Reyes | May 27, 2003 | 51 |
Mickey Callaway | June 12, 1999 | 51 |
Delvin James | April 16, 2002 | 51 |
Tim Corcoran | October 2, 2005 | 50 |
Albie Lopez | May 28, 2000 | 50 |
Joe Kennedy | June 6, 2001 | 50 |
Terrell Wade | September 21, 1998 | 49 |
Jason Johnson | April 23, 1998 | 49 |
Bobby Witt | April 8, 1999 | 49 |
John Halama | June 18, 2004 | 48 |
Rolando Arrojo | April 1, 1998 | 45 |
Tanyon Sturtze | August 5, 2000 | 45 |
Esteban Yan | May 8, 1999 | 43 |
Cory Lidle | October 3, 1999 | 42 |
Julio Santana | June 9, 1998 | 42 |
Dewon Brazelton | September 13, 2002 | 42 |
Andy Sonnanstine | June 5, 2007 | 42 |
Damian Moss | April 22, 2004 | 39 |
Steve Parris | April 4, 2003 | 39 |
Mitch Talbot | September 23, 2008 | 38 |
Jeff Wallace | August 6, 2001 | 38 |
Brian Stokes | September 3, 2006 | 38 |
Jae Seo | July 2, 2006 | 38 |
Todd Ritchie | September 18, 2004 | 37 |
Matt Garza | April 2, 2008 | 37 |
Matt Ruebel | May 25, 1998 | 36 |
Ryan Rupe | May 5, 1999 | 36 |
Chad Gaudin | August 16, 2003 | 34 |
James Shields | May 31, 2006 | 31 |
Mike Judd | April 22, 2001 | 28 |
Jorge Sosa | June 25, 2002 | 28 |
Rick White | May 31, 1998 | 27 |
Rob Bell | June 14, 2003 | 26 |
Rick Gorecki | April 3, 1998 | 22 |
Nick Bierbrodt | June 7, 2001 | 22 |
Brian Rose | May 12, 2001 | 21 |
Jim Parque | April 2, 2003 | 21 |
J.P. Howell | August 1, 2006 | 20 |
Dave Eiland | September 25, 1998 | 20 |
Jason Hammel | April 11, 2006 | 18 |
Wilson Alvarez | March 31, 1998 | 17 |
John Webb | April 20, 2005 | 16 |
Travis Harper | August 4, 2000 | 15 |
Luis De Los Santos | July 20, 2002 | 12 |
Juan Guzman | April 7, 2000 | 10 |
While not the best, Davis' debut on Sunday was second best only to Doug Waechter's CGSO in 2003 and the best since Niemann started for the first time in 2008. I cannot wait to see this man progress.