ST. LOUIS – At the beginning of spring training, Dylan Dodd entered the big-league clubhouse as a promising prospect, someone who could benefit from time spent around major leaguers in his first big-league camp.
Turns out, he did not show up to soak in the experience and leave.
On Tuesday, Dodd made his MLB debut and picked up his first career win in a 4-1 victory over the Cardinals. Atlanta (4-1) won a second series in as many tries to start the season.
Five observations:
1. Busch Stadium is about three and a half hours from Bismarck, Illinois, Dodd’s hometown. The ballpark is under two hours from Southeast Missouri State, where Dodd went to school and blossomed into a draft prospect.
You could tell Dodd was close to home. You could hear their cheers.
Could he?
“I could, yes,” Dodd said, laughing.
Dodd said he knew of around 150 people who made the trip here, and he acknowledged there were probably others. He gave them a great experience: He held the dangerous Cardinals to one run over five innings. He struck out three batters and didn’t walk any.
He couldn’t have envisioned this going any better.
“That was just unbelievable,” Dodd said. “That first ending. I was so nervous. That was most nervous I’ve ever been. But I’m just grateful that it was in a local area and that I was able to have a lot of friends and family (here).”
2. Dodd said he was nervous.
You couldn’t tell.
“I think after just getting the first out, and just realizing that it’s the same game,” he said. “Just continue to attack the zone and put the pressure on them.”
Dodd proved nothing would rattle him. He struck out Nolan Arenado for his first career strikeout and, for the most part, successfully navigated a difficult Cardinals lineup.
He escaped multiple difficult spots.
“Debuts are great. They’re always fun,” said Sean Murphy, who caught Dodd. “He was awesome. He showed a lot of composure. He got himself into some spots, and he made pitches to get out of them. He could’ve let it snowball, but he didn’t.”
Dodd displayed it all.
“Some guys have it,” manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s something that I don’t know that they know how they’re going to feel that first time they toe the rubber, and especially a place like this, against this club. But he showed it all spring, the mound presence, the maturity, just the confidence in his pitches. It was really good, it’s fun to watch.”
3. Snitker called Tuesday “probably one of the better team defensive games I’ve ever been a part of.”
Ronald Acuña Jr.: In the bottom of the seventh inning, Acuña fielded a single and fired a 92.7-mph throw, per Statcast, to Murphy to nab a runner at home. In the fourth inning, Willson Contreras flared a ball out toward Acuña, who dove to trap it, then popped up and got Contreras out at second to end the inning.
“I mean, that’s my job at the end of the day, right?” Acuña said through interpreter Franco García. “And that’s what I was going to do, play good defense for the team. They needed me to make a good throw and get the guys out, and fortunately, it’s what I was able to do.”
Austin Riley: In the eighth inning, with runners on first and second and the Braves up three runs, he charged a weak grounder to third base, barehanded it and fired to Matt Olson for the inning-ending out.
Ozzie Albies, Orlando Arcia and Eddie Rosario also made great plays.
4. For the second time in as many nights, Riley homered in the first inning. This time, he gave Dodd a two-run lead before the lefty even took the mound.
Murphy also collected his first Braves hit and RBI on the same swing. Orlando Arcia hit his first homer of the year.
After Dodd exited, five relievers combined to shut out St. Louis over the final four innings.
“There’s no other way to put it than Snit has – I wouldn’t say an easy job, but I feel like we’re making his job a lot easier just because we have so many guys, and he has different options that he can go to in the sixth all the way through the ninth,” said A.J. Minter, who earned the save.
5. After the fifth inning, Dodd walked into the dugout. Snitker shook his hand and told him he was done.
“I was just like, ‘Thank goodness,’” Dodd said. “That was just a huge relief off my back. Not that I don’t want to be out there – obviously I want to go out there for as long as possible – but just having the first one done, in the books, is a good feeling.”
Stat to know
10 - Dodd became the 10th Braves pitcher since 1900 to debut against the Cardinals.
Quotable
“This has been my dream for as long as I remember. It’s been real and an amazing day.” - Dodd
Up next
Braves right-hander Bryce Elder will pitch against the Cardinals in Wednesday’s series finale, which begins at 1:15 p.m. Righty Miles Mikolas will start for St. Louis.
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