Mickey Gasper appeared in 399 games and recorded 1,567 plate appearances during his minor league career before he finally made his big league debut with the Boston Red Sox earlier this week.
The New York Yankees originally selected Gasper in the 2018 MLB draft out of Bryant University, and the Red Sox selected him in the Rule 5 draft in 2023.
In 40 games with Triple-A Worcester, Gasper put up incredible numbers, hitting .402 with a 1.179 OPS, eight home runs and 32 RBIs.
After Boston called the 28-year-old up on Monday, he entered the game in the 10th inning as a pinch hitter and worked a walk after being down in the count. This setup Rob Refsnyder to drive in the winning run in the winning run.
While most players would probably be a little stressed out about making their debut, this moment as something that Gasper was prepared for.
“I’ve always thought the big leagues were realistic,” Gasper said (via. MassLive). “People have told me that I’m a big league hitter before. I’ve always been oblivious to doing anything other than playing baseball. So anything short of the big leagues just didn’t seem like a possibility for me. I’ve always had the confidence and belief in myself that this is what I want to do. And just had to set my mind to it and really push myself as much as I possibly could.
“I was so calm up there. I don’t know what was going through my head. I just felt good. I guess I felt like I was at home. I don’t know. I was relaxed, saw the first couple pitches.”
Refsnyder was impressed with what he saw from the rookie in his lone at-bat.
“He took a really, really good slider,” he said. “Most guys, in that moment, debut — I know I would have swung over the top of that one... That was a huge at-bat. He did his job. We gave him a beer shower to celebrate his debut. Just a fantastic job by him, honestly.”
Even Red Sox manager Alex Cora had to give Gasper some shine.
“That at-bat by Mickey, in that moment to be able to walk, that was impressive,” Cora said. “That’s the reason he is here.”
Boston has gotten some impressive performances from their young players this year, and if Gasper can help them down the stretch at all, he'll be added to that list. But, the walk was a good first step.
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