Major league debut an 'amazing' experience for Pirates OF Cal Mitchell

After recording his first major league hit — an RBI single to break a scoreless tie, no less — Cal Mitchell was too worried about what was going on in the game to absorb the gravity of his career milestone.

“Uh, no,” Mitchell said, sheepishly. “I had to run the bases.”

Only after play stopped did Mitchell take in the moment, realizing how far he’s come in a short span. As composed as he sounded in interviews, Mitchell hadn’t contemplated where he would store the ball commemorating his first major league hit.

“Dash of my car, I don’t know,” Mitchell said, with a laugh. “It’s going to be somewhere I can see it for a little while, that’s for sure.”

Pirates OF Cal Mitchell on getting his first major league hit and RBI in his debut Tuesday against the Rockies. pic.twitter.com/6jG43CizxA

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) May 25, 2022

When Mitchell’s name was missing from the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 40-man roster last fall, leaving the outfield prospect exposed to the Rule 5 Draft and wondering where he fit into their plans, he never worried about how it would affect his career trajectory.

Since he was drafted in the second round out of Rancho Bernardo (Calif.) High School in 2017, Mitchell set his sights on making it to the major leagues. His path to PNC Park was not a smooth ride, but Mitchell finally made his debut Tuesday night against the Colorado Rockies.

“I didn’t have any doubts if I would be able to make it up,” Mitchell said. “If I was out of the running for it, no way. I trained for this, practiced for this for a long time. I feel good. I’m still pretty young. I’m 23. The plan didn’t change, the end goal didn’t change because I had that one speed bump. … I don’t know if you want to call it a chip on your shoulder. There is a sense of, OK, now watch what I can do.”

Prior to his MLB debut, Pirates rookie OF Cal Mitchell on overcoming the ‘speed bump’ of being left off the 40-man roster last fall. pic.twitter.com/fOQmdUpGCC

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) May 25, 2022

If anything, the speed bump provided motivation for Mitchell. The 6-foot, 205-pounder batted .306/.362/.500 with nine doubles, five home runs and 26 RBIs in 34 games at Triple-A Indianapolis, where he developed into the Indians’ most consistent position player both offensively and defensively.

The improvement was so emphatic that the Pirates had to make moves to promote Mitchell, placing designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach (hamstring) on the 10-day injured list for a 26-man roster spot and designating lefty reliever Cam Alldred for assignment for a 40-man roster spot.

“He’s kind of epitomizes everything we talk about — backing up bases, doing the little things, just being the complete outfielder,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said, comparing Mitchell’s style of play to outfielder Ben Gamel. “Cal does all these things. Very deserving. Anytime you have a situation where you have a guy not on his roster and you add him to your roster, it’s shown you he’s done all the things we challenged him on and deserves to get that opportunity in the big leagues.”

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington found it exciting to see Mitchell, ranked their No. 23 prospect by Baseball America and No. 25 by MLB Pipeline, reach the major leagues because of his long journey.

“This is a high school position player taken in the draft and fought his way through the minor leagues,” Cherington said. “To his credit, we made a decision on the roster last winter where he wasn’t added, and he responded to that exactly the way you would want a young player to respond. He’s busted his tail. He was disappointed, as you would expect he would be. Busted his tail every day since. Has turned himself into a better player. Based on the feedback we’ve gotten from our Triple-A staff really has been our most consistent position player in Indy all year.

“He earned this, and we’re happy for him.”

Mitchell learned about his promotion Monday night and had time to share the news with family and friends, especially his father, who was his baseball coach growing up.

They were watching from San Diego when Mitchell lined out to right field in his first at-bat, and the solid contact assured him that he could hit major league pitching. After Diego Castillo doubled in the fifth, Mitchell followed with a single to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead and reached second on an error by center fielder Randal Grichuk, whose throw hit the pitcher’s mound. Mitchell flew out to left in his third at-bat, then grounded into a broken-bat fielder’s choice that forced out Rodolfo Castro at home.

For Mitchell, his major league debut was an “amazing” experience.

“I couldn’t ask for much more,” Mitchell said. “I felt so good to be able to do that with all the people that I care about watching and share that moment with them later when I get home.”

That won’t be long, as the Pirates go on a six-game West Coast trip that starts Friday with a three-game series at the San Diego Padres. So Mitchell’s family will be able to see him play in his hometown.

“You couldn’t draw it up any better,” Mitchell said. “It’s wonderful. I get to go to Petco Park. I spent so many days as a kid there watching games, getting to go to tournaments. It’s a dream come true.”