Alex Avila Amazes In Debut

To say the Tigers' decision to bring catcher Alex Avila to the majors this week was universally panned by close followers of the team might be an understatement.

It was nothing against Avila. It's hard not to look at a hard-hitting, left-handed catcher and smile with anticipation of what he can do for the team for years to come. The Tigers knew what they were doing when they selected him in the fifth round of the 2008 draft. He was going to make them look pretty smart for it, too.

In 2011.

At least, that was when you would anticipate the arrival of a guy drafted 14 months ago who did not even put on the catcher's mask until he was an upperclassman at Alabama.

He's got to continue working on his defensive skill set, we all said. To do that, he needs more regular playing time, we all said. What's the point in calling up a catching prospect early and possibly stunting his growth when you don't even let your backup catcher play, we all wondered.

Avila is going to make the Tigers look pretty smart again.

If they let him.

 

Amazing Avila wows

Two days after being called up from Double-A Erie, Avila made his major league debut Thursday afternoon, a 22-year-old catcher and one-half of a pitching battery that was just a combined 42 years old. It was almost hard to remember 20-year-old Rick Porcello is the one with 20 games of experience, because Avila made it clear from the start: He belonged.

And why not? The son of assistant general manager Al Avila, Alex has been prowling Comerica Park for seven years now. Some players might be intimidated by the major league clubhouse, their veteran teammates, or an expansive ballpark that seats more than four times the last field they stepped off of.

The stage may be bigger, the games may mean a lot more, but it was still just a game of baseball for the kid. If he was intimidated, he didn't show it.

So when he struck out in his first major league at-bat after a lengthy struggle, no big deal. He'd get them next time.

And in the third inning, he did with a rip down the right field line for his first hit, his first double and his first RBI, all in one, while his father received congratulations in the press box and the rest of his family leaped for joy in the stands.

In the fifth inning, he collected his second hit. In the seventh, he darn near had a third, but the line drive was snapped out of the air by Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts.

In between, he handled Porcello like a pro, calling a game that saw zero Orioles hits and just one base runner before the fifth inning, going to the mound to exchange words with his pitcher and give him a breather when needed.

You can't help but smile when thinking of all the years the Tigers might have those two as a star attraction.

 

Another debut to remember

Earlier this year, Tigers fans had the opportunity to see the debut of their top prospect and catcher, Matt Wieters. And to be sure, it's likely Wieters will put it all together and have a better career than Avila when it's all added up. He wasn't a top prospect for nothing.

But he still went 0-for-4 that day in May and looked like the rookie that he is.

Now, Orioles fans got a chance to see what has Detroit excited.

 

Temper expectations

A career isn't built in a day.

The Tigers will bring Avila along slowly. Manager Jim Leyland told the media the young catcher will mostly be used to catch the games of Porcello and Armando Galarraga. More off days for starting catcher Gerald Laird is a plan we can all get behind, while Avila will still start in about 40 percent of the games.

It's possible to read too much into one game, so fight that urge.

But if ever there was a debut to silence the doubters fast, it was Avila's.

 

Kurt Mensching writes for MackAvenueTigers.com