PHOENIX _ On Tuesday night, Ronald Bolanos became the latest.
For now, as good as he was, the latest is all he is.
"Another young, talented kid we're bringing to the big leagues who will learn some lessons along the way," manager Andy Green said before his team lost 2-1 to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. "But there's a lot to believe in."
The sixth starting pitcher to make his major league debut for the San Diego Padres this season, most by any team, Bolanos allowed five hits, walked two and struck out four in six innings.
The 23-year-old right-hander allowed two runs in the first inning, should have allowed just one and did not allow any the rest of the way.
But the Padres' bats were mostly stymied until the ninth inning, when Wil Myers' two-out single drove in their only run. Nick Martini struck out looking with the bases loaded to end the game.
Diamondbacks righty Merrill Kelly, who hadn't struck out more than five batters in any of his previous seven starts, struck out nine in seven innings, one off his career high. The Padres had three singles and walked twice when he was in the game.
As advertised, Bolanos mixed it up. His fastball averaged just under 95 mph, topping out at 99 and coming in as slow as 88. He threw multiple breaking balls in the 70s. He has purportedly thrown his curveball in the low 60s in the minors.
As part of the 10-pitch fourth inning, Bolanos followed a 95 mph fastball up and in with a 73 mph slider in the lower half and away that Nick Ahmed swung through for the first out of the fourth inning.
Bolanos then got catcher Carson Kelly and Merrill Kelly to strand Adam Jones, who had grounded the first pitch of the inning down the left-field line for a stand-up double.
Three batters after Starling Marte led off the inning with a double, Bolanos got the final out in the fifth on an 83 mph change-up Christian Walker swung over one pitch after watching a 98 mph fastball for ball three.
The sixth inning took him eight pitches to complete.
It was an impressive finish to a night in which he was hit hard and had some tough luck at the start.
Marte, who entered the game fifth in the National League with a .321 batting average, pulled a 2-2 slider on the inside edge down the right field line for a triple. Marte scored when Josh Rojas poked a 99 mph fastball through the left side, and Bolanos followed that with a walk of Eduardo Escobar.
The Cuban's first out was a fly ball to right field by Walker, and a grounder by Jake Lamb appeared it would end the inning until Ty France bobbled the ball before flipping it to shortstop Greg Garcia, whose throw to first arrived just after Lamb crossed the bag. That allowed Rojas to score.
By the time his night was over, Bolanos had turned in the second-longest debut of any Padres starter this season, trailing only Logan Allen's seven shutout innings against the Brewers in June.
In all, the six rookies have combined for a 1.85 ERA in their debuts.
Bolanos is the Padres' 15th-ranked prospect, according to MLB.com. He followed fellow Cubans Adrian Morejon (No.7) and Michel Baez (No.9), who were called up in July and inserted in the bullpen.
It is likely left-hander MacKenzie Gore, the third-ranked prospect in the minor leagues, ascends to the majors at some point in 2020. Righty Luis Patino, the No.3 prospect in the Padres' system and ranked 30th overall, could follow in short order.
Even those two, so highly thought internally other teams have practically been forbidden from even whispering their names in trade talks, will be wait-and-see propositions when they arrive.
Bolanos represents the latest in the second wave of starting pitcher prospects, after Joey Lucchesi, Eric Lauer and Jacob Nix debuted in 2018.
His start was the 59th start by a Padres rookie this season. Kelly was making the Diamondbacks' major league-leading 61st start by rookie.
