Zach Eflin had a bad debut. Horrible. One of the worst. After the game it didn’t phase him, and God bless the guy for putting it all aside and just basking in the fact that he achieved his dream. But oh man, it was not good.

https://twitter.com/CoreySeidmanCSN/status/742775168733446145

I thought to myself, well, it can’t be that bad. I am sure some other pitcher had a similarly bad debut and went on to a decent career. I was kinda right:

  • Eflin, yesterday: 2.2 IP, 8 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO, 3 HR
  • Matt Garza, 8/11/06: 2.2 IP, 7 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, 2 HR

But Game Score is the issue here. A Bill James creation, here’s how Game Score is calculated:

  1. Start with 50 points.
  2. Add one point for each out recorded, so three points for every complete inning pitched.
  3. Add two points for each inning completed after the fourth.
  4. Add one point for each strikeout.
  5. Subtract two points for each hit allowed.
  6. Subtract four points for each earned run allowed.
  7. Subtract two points for each unearned run allowed.
  8. Subtract one point for each walk.

Eflin’s Game Score was 5. In his debut, Garza’s was 14. Taking away innings pitched and runs scored limits, only five pitchers had a Game Score worse than Eflin in their debut. The White Sox’s Arnie Munoz put up an impressive -7 in his debut in 2004, and he never started another professional game in his career. John Stephens put up a 3 for the Orioles in 2002. He started ten more games that season, went 2-5, and never made it back to the majors. Other names around Eflin’s on the ranking include such forgotten (or never known) players as Mike Busby, Sergio Mitre, Kyle Denney, and the Phillies’ own Severino Gonzalez.

There is a positive here though: Steve Avery had a Game Score of 9, 2.1 IP, and 8 ER in his first start in 1990. He later went on to win 18 games twice in his career, before having his name notoriety taken by a guy who might be a murderer. So Eflin’s got that to look forward to.