Cincinnati Reds pitching prospect Nick Lodolo made his MLB debut today against the Cleveland Guardians, and the highly touted prospect did something quite impressive.
Lodolo picked up his first career strikeout in the top of the first inning with the game still scoreless.
It’s always nice to see a pitcher record their first career strikeout.
That means a milestone has been achieved.
But it meant a little bit more than that.
Lodolo’s first big-league strikeout came against the one and only Steven Kwan, who is off to an impressive start in his young career and went on a streak of 116 pitches without swinging and missing.
Lodolo ended that streak and also struck out a tough opponent, meaning that both he and Kwan picked up their first major league strikeout in the same at-bat.
Nick Lodolo and Steven Kwan both record their first career strikeout on the same pitch
— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) April 13, 2022
History In The Making
This is some unprecedented history.
Likely never again will we see a pitcher and a hitter record their first career strikeouts in one at-bat.
But Lodolo deserves a ton of credit for having struck out Kwan.
That man has been impossible to strike out as of late and Lodolo can be on the one to say that he was the first pitcher who ever struck out Kwan.
Lodolo has a bright future ahead of him, even if today’s start isn’t going as planned.
He can still say he struck out THE Steven Kwan and that he was the first to ever do it, while picking up his first Major League strikeout in the process.
That’s no small feat.
We’ll see if he can live up to the hype as the season progresses and whether or not Kwan will stay hot after having finally striking out.
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