Mason Black debuts and Giants lose in front of half of northeastern Pennsylvania

In his Major League Debut, right-hander Mason Black took the mound at the park he grew up visiting as a kid, facing the team he grew up rooting for, toeing the same rubber as his hero Roy Halladay.

He couldn’t suppress a smirk after throwing his first pitch, recording his first putout on an easy grounder off the bat of Kyle Schwarber as the legion of Black family and friends going beserk in the stands. Against J.T. Realmuto, who signed with the Phillies in 2018 when Black was pitching at nearby Lehigh University, the 24 year old recorded his first strikeout with a knee-high four-seam fastball on the outer third. An inside change-up that fell back into the zone froze Bryce Harper for Black’s first backwards-K, the first frame of his career punctuated.

I’m pretty sure Black levitated back to the dugout after that first inning, and stayed airborne for the 2nd. His sweeper elicited weak contact from Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh. A single from Nick Castellanos forced Black into the stretch for the first time, from which he dropped another sweeper on Bryson Stott for a called strike-three.

Facing the Philly lineup for the first time, he allowed only 1 hit, 0 walks, 0 runs while logging 3 strikeouts in 2.2 innings with a pitch mix that highlights two types of fastball: four-seam and sinker, and two types of breaking ball: a sweeper and harder slider, with an occasional change-up. The velocity isn’t overpowering but there’s natural run on his sinker, and he gets a funk-bump with a lower, three-quarter arm slot.

But nine hitters into your big league career is plenty. The book is officially open, and the pages fill up fast. The second time through the lineup, Philadelphia returned to the plate better informed. Schwarber walked on four pitches. Realmuto ripped a hanging sweeper to left for a two-out double. And with runners in scoring position, facing his first real test as a pitcher against Bryce Harper, he dealt a non-hanger that the Phillies star lifted harmlessly to left to end the 3rd.

With two quick outs to start the 4th, Black’s command started to slip. He walked the struggling and free-swinging Castellanos and in an early count advantage against Stott, Black couldn’t put the shortstop away in an 8-pitch at-bat that ended in a free 90 feet. Whit Merrifield’s single in the 5.5 hole brought in Castellanos to give Philly the 1-0 lead. Black K’ed Johan Rojas on three pitches to avoid further damage in the 4th.

The pleasantries and niceties of introductions out of the way, the Philly offense dragged Black down to earth. Schwarber and Realmuto both smoked singles with exit velocities above 100 MPH. Two men on with no one out again, Harper stepped up to the plate.

The lefty had ambushed the first pitch in his previous at-bat and the drop on the sweeper caught him out in front. Maybe Black thought he might chose to be patient and take a pitch with no outs and two runners on. Maybe Black figured Harper would look for the sweeper again and he could sneak a fastball by him. Whatever the thinking was, it didn’t work. It usually doesn’t when the pitch is a 92 MPH sinker belt high over the center of the plate. A pitch like that Harper doesn’t need to guess—he just recognized it, waited for it to arrive at the plate, and swatted it into the stands in left for another game-defining blast.

That sinker sunk Black. Subsequent pitches were either big misses, or over the heart of the plate. Back-to-back doubles from Marsh and Castellanos chased the rookie from the game. In hindsight, he was probably over-reliant on his sweeper (42% Monday, 30% with SAC) that he lost control of as his pitch count increased, nor did he seem eager to use his four-seamer as much (20% Monday, 30% in SAC). Adrenaline, nerves—it all comes into play. A debut is always weird, this one maybe more than most given how close to home it was for Black, but also how desperate the Giants were for him to eat up some innings.

So Mason Black is allowed to compartmentalize. Don’t look at the loss, the ridiculously inflated ERA, the final pitching line (4.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 4 K), but atomize. Break the start down: Three great innings and a forgettable one. Forget the box score and focus on the sweepers that dotted the knees, the fastball that jumped on Realmuto, or the change-up that froze Harper.

This is a luxury that the rest of the San Francisco Giants don’t have—they’ve been kicking the can down the road long enough. Time to look their 15-21 record in the eye, and do something about it. Yes, Zach Wheeler is one of the best in the game but there were moments—however bried—that could’ve built to something. Two singles in the first were erased on a double play. The next hit came with two outs in the 4th: a double by Wilmer Flores. Wheeler pitched around Michael Conforto to get to Matt Chapman. Again, as he did last night, the third baseman came up empty. He fought out of an 0-2 hole but in a full count, Wheeler quit picking at the corners and dealt a Main Street heater that Chapman swung through.

Wheeler struck-out 11 over 7 innings of work. San Francisco managed 5 hits in total: Jung Hoo Lee and LaMonte Wade Jr. had 4 of them. They went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. Both numbers too low. Their only run, unearned.

A 6-1 loss finalizing a four-game sweep that truly did feel inevitable. Out-scored 29 to 11. Out-pitched by their starters, who allowed 9 runs over 19.1 IP to the Giants 19 runs in 9 IP.

The Philadelphia series: mercifully over.