Marcus Stroman Bombs in Professional Debut with Vancouver Canadians

Marcus Stroman took to the mound for the first time as a professional baseball player Thursday, July 12.

The results were not pretty.

In just 0.2 innings of work Stroman gave up three hits, walked one batter and allowed three runs (two earned) to cross the plate.

It's unfortunate that Stroman wasn't able to come into the game and dominate in the way every player cutting his teeth in the pro ranks would like to, but let's not read too much into the ghastly performance. 

First off, a professional debut is something that rattles the nerves and gets into the head.

There may not be a whole lot of media coverage or apparent pressure associated with the Vancouver Canadians, one of the Toronto Blue Jays' Low A-ball affiliates, but a player's inaugural performance with a big-league organization is still a big deal. Furthermore, because Stroman has repeatedly been touted as the most MLB-ready draftee of 2012, there is added pressure on him to perform well quickly.

Secondly, putting any significant measure of thought into a 0.2 inning sample size is a tremendous overreaction. A 27.00 ERA looks pretty ugly, but it won't take a heck of a lot to bring those digits back to where people expect them to be.

It's always a nice story when a first-round draft pick comes in and does big things in his professional debut, but the actual outcome tells very little about the player's long-term projections.

Hopefully next time out will produce a better result. If not, don't fall victim of reading too much into it. Give it a couple months. At least.