MLB Hoosiers (Aug. 13): Rough Debut for Red Sox Pitcher Kyle Hart

The mighty Boston Red Sox are a mess right now. Struggling to find quality starting pitching, they turned to former Indiana star Kyle Hart, who made his major-league debut on Thursday.

And he struggled, too. But he also didn't get much help from the Red Sox's shaky defense.

Hart, who pitched at Indiana from 2012 to 2016, allowed seven runs — five earned — on seven hits and three walks in two-plus innings, taking the loss in an ugly 17-8 game where Boston made four errors and was swept in the four-game series.

“I know Kyle Hart, he didn’t locate the ball like he wants to and he’s going to rely on locating, but we didn’t help him at all defensively and that’s what I feel bad about,” Boston manager Ron Roenicke said after the game. “He’s out there for his first time pitching in the big leagues and he needs to get all the outs he can get, and we didn’t help him.”

Hart doesn't throw particularly hard, so he has success with spot-on control and getting outs on his great change-up and curveball. His control was a little off Thursday in his debut. His appearance made him the sixth Hoosier in the big leagues this year, which has never happened before.

Hart threw 73 pitches in his two-plus innings, but only 44 were strikes. It wasn't the type of outing that he wanted to see.

“Obviously the results, not even close to what I had envisioned, but it’s something that I’m happy I went through it,” Hart said. “I’m happy that I can put it beyond me and start working and growing and just keep maturing as a pitcher, because I know I can compete at this level, although today wasn’t my best display.”

Roenicke didn't make any commitment to giving Hart another start. He was hoping his arrival might jump-start the Red Sox, but it didn't happen. Heads are hanging for this 6-13 team that has the second-worst record in baseball

“I really don’t need to make a message after that. They know,” Roenicke said. “When you see heads hanging after a game, they realize that we’ll have an advance meeting tomorrow and I’ll probably say some things to them, but it’s just the way it’s going, just going through a bad point.

“We keep talking about how we need to turn it around and we’re not doing that. Guys just need to relax and play how they’re capable. There are some good players on this team and I still have a lot of confidence in them. So I still think it’s going to show up, but it’s hard watching games like that.”

A nice Hoosier moment on Thursday was that Aaron Slegers, Hart's former teammate and roommate at Indiana, got to see his debut in the empty Fenway Park. Slegers was called up the day before by Tampa Bay, and he enjoyed seeing history.

At 4:30 we’re competitors but couldn’t be more excited for @hart_attack_kid to make his MLB debut. Kyle has worked hard for everything he’s achieved and today is going to be a lot of fun
— Aaron Slegers (@aslegers) August 13, 2020

Thursday's Hoosiers in the majors

Kyle Schwarber, Chicago Cubs: Schwarber started in left field and went 1-for-4 with a home run in the second inning. On the year, he's 12-for-52 (.229 average) with three homers and seven RBIs and the Cubs have a 13-3 record, the best record in the majors.
Josh Phegley, Chicago Cubs: Phegley, a backup catcher, didn't play Thursday. He hasn't seen much action, and is 0-for-7 at the plate.
Alex Dickerson, San Francisco Giants: Dickerson and the Giants were off on Thursday.
Caleb Baragar, San Francisco Giants: Baragar and the Giants were off on Thursday.
Aaron Slegers, Tampa Bay Rays: Slegers made his 2020 debut on Wednesday with the Rays and had two scoreless innings before getting lit up for five runs. He was optioned back down after the game.