Edmonton officially has another local pitching in the major leagues after Erik Sabrowski debuted with the MLB’s Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday night.
The 26-year-old finally got a chance to show his stuff in a relief appearance during a game against the Kansas City Royals. Sabrowski came in during the seventh inning and let up one hit while recording two strikeouts. In total, he pitched for 1.1 innings and allowed no earned runs in what was an impressive debut for the Edmonton product.
Erik Sabrowski's first MLB strikeout!#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/hxhcUkRZjK
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) September 5, 2024
Sabrowski becomes just the fifth player from Edmonton to make it into MLB games and joins Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Rob Zastryzny as the only other active big league player from the Alberta capital.
It’s a moment that Sabrowski won’t soon forget. He got emotional when talking about what that game meant to him and all the people who had supported him to this point.
“It felt amazing,” Sabrowski said. “There’s so many people that are part of today, and I’m just fortunate to have all of them; it’s a really special day.”
Sabrowski was also asked about keeping the ball after his first strikeout.
“You see it sometimes — people throw that ball into the stands. I’ve worked too hard for that to watch that one go away, so that’s a ball I’m going to hold onto for the rest of my life.”
It will be a night he'll never forget 🥹
An emotional Erik Sabrowski made his MLB debut and was able to record his first big league strike out. #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/zjqGO3B4Sj
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) September 5, 2024
It has been a long and winding road for Sabrowski to finally make it to this point. Initially drafted in the 14th round by the San Diego Padres during the 2018 MLB draft, he was picked up on waivers by the Guardians in 2021.
From there, Sabrowski bounced between Double-A and Triple-A ball for a few seasons before finally earning a call-up to the big club in late August. It took him a few games to finally see some action, but all that waiting finally paid off.
“It was a few days but I just kept telling myself to stay ready, my time is going to come, and fortunately it happened tonight,” Sabrowski said with a wide smile.
This appears to be a successful start to what hopefully becomes a long tenure in the big leagues. He will now try to help a Guardians team that is currently leading the AL Central and is poised to make the postseason.