Former Mount Olive College All-America Makes Major League Debut in Big Apple
-courtesy of MOC Sports
Information
FORMER MOUNT OLIVE COLLEGE ALL-AMERICA
CARTER CAPPS MAKES MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT
NEW YORK, N.Y.
– Former Mount Olive College All-America pitcher
Carter Capps made his Major League debut Friday, pitching for the
Seattle Mariners against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
Capps, a third-round pick by the Mariners in the 2011 Major League
Baseball Draft, was called up to the majors
Tuesday.
Capps took over for starter Kevin
Millwood to start the bottom of the seventh inning, facing the
9-1-2 batters with the Mariners trailing 4-1. Capps allowed a
single to Russell Martin and walked leadoff batter Curtis
Granderson before retiring Derek Jeter on a sacrifice. Capps was
lifted for a reliever. Seattle fell 6-3 as Capps finished with a
no-decision.
Capps says the site of his first
Major League appearance made his debut even more
special.
“It
definitely added a little something,” said Capps, the 2011
ABCA Division II Player of the Year and the consensus Pitcher of
the Year. “The history here, it made it very special to make
my debut here.”
Capps added that
he wasn’t given any advance notice when he would make his
debut.
“I
didn’t have a clue until I was told to go into the
game,” said Capps.
In
a span of just eight days, Capps played for three different teams.
He made his last appearance for the Mariners’ Double-A
affiliate in Jackson, Tenn., July 26 before being promoted to
Triple-A Tacoma. He retired all four batters he faced – three
by strikeout – in his lone Triple-A appearance Monday. Capps
was called up to Seattle the next day.
“My
head’s still kind of spinning. Hopefully that’ll settle
down soon and I’ll be able to get back to
work.”
Despite being
charged with two earned runs in 1/3 inning pitched against the
Yankees, Capps was upbeat about his debut.
“I liked a
lot of my pitches. I just didn’t locate them where I wanted
them to, but they were doing what I wanted them to do,” said
Capps. “(My) fastball was running and my curve ball had a
good break on it, so I was happy with those. I was getting
first-pitch strikes, just having trouble closing
guys.”
Capps says that
apart from a greater talent level, there aren’t too many
differences between pitching in the minors and pitching in the
majors. He added that his new teammates have already been a big
help to him.
“It’s
pretty much the same except it’s a little more intense and
the batters have quicker hands and they battle you more,”
said Capps. “Everybody’s been really nice and trying to
help me out, so I appreciate that.”
Capps did not
pitch in the final two games of Seattle’s series at Yankee
Stadium. Mariner starter Felix Hernandez went the distance in the
Mariners’ 1-0 win Saturday. Seattle used five pitchers in
Sunday’s 6-2 loss in the final game of the series.
The Mariners are
in Baltimore for a three-game series and after a travel day
Thursday, are back on the West Coast for a three-game weekend
series at the Los Angeles Angels.
Capps gave advice
to current Mount Olive College players – pitchers in
particular – aspiring to play pro ball, as well as to former
Trojans already playing professionally.
“Just keep
working hard,” said Capps. “(As a pitcher) keep
pounding the zone. Hitters only keep getting better (at each
level), they don’t get worse.”
-MOC-