It was May 30 and Mitch Walding, after six long years in the minor leagues, was in Los Angeles making his Phillies debut.
His family was in attendance at Dodger Stadium. Walding had texted Gabe Kabler on the flight from Pennsylvania, saying that he’d “been waiting for this moment [his] whole life.” The 25-year-old third baseman first walked up to the plate in the second inning, then three more times throughout the night.
He struck out all four times.
That proved to be emblematic of Walding’s first three MLB stints — May 30-June 6, June 20-25 and July 20-25 — in which the former 2011 fifth-round pick went 0 for 14 with 10 strikeouts and two walks.