Patrick Corbin and Ervin Santana both made their debuts this weekend. Corbin made his debut on Saturday, and it certainly could have gone worse. He threw 76 pitches on the day, 56 of which were for strikes. Given that control and command often elude pitchers returning from Tommy John, it was notable that Corbin didn’t walk a batter. Still, there was obvious rust, which should be expected, as Corbin managed to throw a first pitch strike on only 57.1%, in comparison to his 70.2% mark of 2013.
Another positive from Corbin’s outing came from the fact that his velocity was in line for the most part with the velocities he posted before his Tommy John surgery, as he was able to hit 93 on average with his fastball and sinker.