First things first, big league debuts are awesome. Even when they go poorly, watching a (usually) young man’s dream come to fruition is awesome. There’s usually family present, usually tears a flowing, and for a brief moment in your team’s miserable existence, everything is right. It’s a wonderful aspect that is largely unique to baseball, a sport where it takes years to reach the zenith.
Fortunately, Paul Blackburn’s debut was pretty darn awesome. Both from a results and and eyeball perspective, he impressed enough to land him a second start with the A’s.
Whenever a back-end starter comes to the bigs, you have to ask yourself the Dillon Overton question.