New Kids on the Block

I was at Citi Field Tuesday night, to watch pair of total newcomers facing off. Both starting pitchers, the Phillies' Enyel de los Santos and the Mets' Drew Gagnon were making their major league debuts. Of course, the journeys to the show were markedly different -- de los Santos was the prospect the Phillies front office wanted back in last winter's trade for veteran Freddy Galvis. Gagnon, after seven-and-a-half ordinary years in minors, hardly ranked as a surefire big leaguer.
You didn't need advanced training in analytics to predict the way this one turned out: de los Santos began his night with five dominating innings -- the only run scoring, ironically, on Gangon's sacrifice fly. He was tiring when he gave up a couple of hits in the 6th, and was lifted in the 7th after the Mets plated a pair. But by then, his teammates had given him a confortable 7-3 cushion.
After an easy 1st inning, Gagnon's night began going downhill when Mikael Franco smacked a three-run homer in the 2nd. An inning later, Nick Williams' two-RBI single made it 5-0. Odubel Herrera homered in the 5th... and two batters later, Gagnon was on his way to the showers.
Two newcomers, two different sets of expectations. Another uplifting night for the vastly improved Phils -- who, thanks to the Braves' loss, stand alone in 1st place. Just another painful night in a lost Mets season.