After being called up by the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 25-year-old outfielder made his MLB debut on Sunday.
In his debut MLB at-bat, he hit a two-run home run against the Colorado Rockies, putting the Dodgers up. To the joy of his friends and family in the stands, Outman blasted a 1-1 pitch from German Marquez into the Rockies bullpen at Coors Field.
Outman wasn’t finished yet. He added two more hits to his home run to become the only player in Dodgers history to have a home run, three hits, three RBI, and two runs scored in his MLB debut.
His performance at the plate propelled the Dodgers to a 7-3 victory. He did it all from the nine hole.
“It was a dream come true, I guess,” Outman told SportsNet L.A. “It’s kind of what I’ve been envisioning ever since I was like eight years old.
“As soon as I took the swing, I blacked out. I was just telling myself before the at-bat to relax because I knew I was gonna have a lot of nerves. I just wanted to relax and let what I’ve been doing for 20 years take over.”
Outman was taken by the Dodgers in the seventh round of the 2018 MLB draught out of Cal State Sacramento. MLB.com ranks him as the Dodgers’ 17th best prospect.
He certainly exceeded expectations on Sunday and will almost surely get additional opportunities in the major leagues.
“Historic — what a debut,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters. “Really fun to watch. You can just see his joy. A day that he has dreamt about, and for it to play out like this. Today was about James Outman, and I couldn’t be more happy.”
Deadline day is almost here
Major League Baseball teams have just a few hours left to complete their summer shopping. The MLB trade deadline for this year is set for 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Aug. 2. After then, teams will be unable to finalise transactions until the offseason.
The deadline is traditionally on July 31, but as part of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association, commissioner Rob Manfred now has the authority to set it on any day between July 28 and August 3.
In summary, this is why the deadline is on August 2, a few days later than usual.
