Where does Jose Fernandez’s debut rank?

And it was as much because Jose was the only healthy position player available on the 40-man roster. None of which matters, after a debut for the ages. Whatever happens going forward – and it’s perhaps a little premature to start booking Fernandez a spot in Cooperstown – he’ll always have that magical night at Chase.

Let’s see where it ranks in baseball history. Two home-runs That’s the most obvious of feats. Baseball Reference lists just seven players in recorded baseball history to have gone deep twice in their MLB debut.

Weirdly, one of those was a mere five days ago, the Guardians’ Chase DeLauter (though as Preston mentioned, he technically debuted in the post-season last year). The last NL debutant to do so was Trevor Story of the Rockies ten years ago. You might remember that game, because it came against the Diamondbacks, on Opening Day 2016.

No NL rookie has achieved the feat anywhere else except for Chase Field. [Sarah Langs notes that Charlie Reilly was an 8th player, in 1889. But that was in the American Association, so demands an asterisk] Among Arizona players, Jose is obviously the first to hit two homers in his first career game.