Washington Nationals: Welcome to The Show, Carter Kieboom
Washington Nationals shortstop Carter Kieboom gave fans a glimpse of the future with his eighth-inning home run on Friday.
Get ready Washington Nationals fans: Carter Kieboom has arrived!
“This whole thing is crazy to me,” Kieboom said before the game. “I mean I was in high school three years ago doing art projects. It’s hard to even describe it.”
He’s not sitting in a classroom anymore, but on Friday, he painted a beautiful picture of the future in the minds of Nationals fans.
He saw his first action in the second inning in the form of a sharply hit ground ball from Padres outfielder Franmil Reyes. His throw was right on the money as his name officially entered the MLB record books.
Kieboom recorded his first official Major League at-bat by leading off the third inning. He battled to get to a 3-2 count but struck out looking on a slider from starter Matt Strahm.
After a groundout to second in the fifth inning, Kieboom led off the bottom of the eighth inning with the Nats down one run.
Not only did Kieboom record his first hit, but he blasted his first hit 400 feet to dead center field, tying the game.
Kieboom’s parents were in the ballpark and reacted just like the rest of us: sheer elation.
The reaction from Carter's family is incredible too. That was a special moment. pic.twitter.com/IIl0TglgrM
— Blake Finney (@FinneyBlake) April 27, 2019
“I knew I hit it well, but the wind was howling in tonight. Fortunately, it kept going over,” Kieboom said after the game.
However, that was only the beginning of Kieboom’s exciting night.
After the Nats gave the lead right back to San Diego, they battled back against closer Kirby Yates to set up a moment every kid imagines in their backyard:
Bottom of the ninth. Bases loaded. Two outs. Down by one.
Kieboom stuck with his approach from his first three at-bats but came up short, striking out in a 2-2 count.
Despite the result of his final at-bat, Kieboom’s MLB debut was one to remember.
It’s also a historical moment for Kieboom and two of his teammates: Juan Soto and Victor Robles.
Soto, Robles, and Kieboom are all younger than 22 years old. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last team to start three players younger than 22 were the 1997 Florida Marlins (Mark Kotsay, Edgar Renteria, and Luis Castillo).
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Perhaps it is a good omen that the Nats are in the company of the 1997 Marlins. That year, the Marlins won the World Series.