During Friday night’s 8-2 Chicago White Sox win over the Kansas City Royals, a young hurler made his Major League debut: the Sox Jeff Marquez, who came in to pitch the final inning of garbage time before being sent back down to AAA Charlotte the next day.
Marquez was called up for bullpen help last week when Jake Peavy was added to the Sox disabled list and shut down for the season. When it came time for Peavy’s slot in the rotation, Marquez was jettisoned back to Charlotte to make way for top starting rotation prospect Daniel Hudson.
But Marquez still had a chance to throw down in “The Show,” and I had an exclusive with him after he put in his inning of work.
By Paul M. Banks
“It was pretty surreal, I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be. It felt good that I got first pitch strikes, that’s what you want to do,” Marquez said about his maiden voyage into the MLB seas.
Marquez pitched one inning, throwing 16 pitches, eleven for strikes. He gave up two runs, coming off a Yuniesky Betancourt home run. That elicited boos from the U.S. Cellular Field crowd who were disappointed the Sox were no longer sporting a shut out. I asked Marquez how he dealt with his first Major League boo birds.
“I gave up a homer, which is not what you want to do in your first outing, but I was just happy to be throwing strikes. It felt good to be out there, even though unfortunately that happened,” Marquez said.
Marquez said his favorite players as a kid were, pitching wise Greg Maddux, and hitting wise? Legendary Sox slugger Frank Thomas.
I also asked about how his sinker was coming along, as it is the pitch most scouts think is his best. “It’s gotten a lot better since surgery. It’s definitely my pitch I rely on, that and my changeup,” he said.
Look for Marquez to possibly be back with the parent club in a few weeks when the Sox September call-ups arrive. You might also see Brent Morel and Tyler Flowers in that group.
For Marquez’s statistics and career history go here
Written by Paul M. Banks, President and CEO of The Sports Bank.net , a Midwest focused webzine. He is also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, the Chicago Tribune’s blog network, Walter Football.com, the Washington Times Communities, Yardbarker Network, and Fox Sports.com
You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank and @bigtenguru