PHILADELPHIA — For 10 consecutive games, before home games in St. Louis and road games in Cincinnati and Philadelphia, and even before one rainout, a member of the Cardinals clubhouse staff dutifully affixed the “MLB DEBUT†patch to a sleeve of Ryan Loutos’ jersey.
“Maybe today is the day,†he would tell the right-hander.
Nine times, it was not.
Almost two weeks after a promotion to the majors put Loutos on the brink of a personal milestone and Washington University history, the reliever finally took that step — out of the bullpen, onto the mound and into a major league box score. In front of a sellout crowd of 44,668, Loutos pitched a scoreless eighth inning Saturday in the Cardinals’ loss to the host Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. He became the first Washington University alumnus to appear in a major league game since former Cardinal Dal Maxvill, who retired 49 years ago.
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Loutos is the first Washington U. grad to pitch in the majors.
“Never in a million years did I think I would be pitching in a big league game,†Loutos said late Saturday night. “I worked for it — to be as good as I possibly could be, but I never knew this was possible. I think back to senior year in high school and just hoping to get a chance to play a little bit longer and not thinking I had really any chance, to be honest. Then I’m pitching against the Phillies, one of the best teams in baseball. It all hit me at once.â€
Promoted from Class AAA on May 20, Loutos had dozens of friends and family caravan down for those first few games at Busch Stadium from his hometown in northern Illinois.
By Saturday night in South Philly, four people had been with the Cardinals for all 10 games waiting for the debut — Loutos’ father, two brothers and his girlfriend.
“And they were going to Houston if I didn’t pitch,†he said Sunday.
An engagement party had already been postponed once for the family to attend his potential debut, so his mom and sister headed back to Illinois for a game. Loutos said his girlfriend’s father joined the group Saturday, just in time to attend the debut.
It’s also the first time the parents met each other.
When they all had a chance to gather on the field after the game for photos, Loutos admitted later that he cried watching them all walk down through the seats.
Loutos signed with the Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2019, and when offered a programming job by the front office as a side gig, he made more money writing code and developing an internal-use app for the Cardinals than he did throwing fastballs. He left the front office job to focus on pitching as harnessed his 6-foot-5 frame and unlocked more velocity. In 13 relief appearances this season for the Triple-A Redbirds, Loutos was 1-0 with a 1.72 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 152/3 innings.
Throughout his dozen days in the Cardinals bullpen, he warmed up only once before Saturday night and did not get into that game. Against the Phillies, Loutos allowed a walk and a hit in the debut but pitched around both to leave the inning without allowing a run.
According to Washington University’s student newspaper, Loutos is the first alumnus to appear in an MLB, NHL, NBA or NFL game in nearly four decades.
The previous graduates to appear in the majors were Maxvill, All-Star Norm Siebern and Muddy Rule, who played for the Browns in 1915 and 1933 and four other American League teams in between. As a leader for the Bears’ Division III program, Loutos said he always took note of the Division III players who reached the majors. Now that he is one, he has a new perspective.
And that debut patch has been removed from his jersey.
“If you keep performing and you take advantage of opportunities, your career is going to work out however it’s supposed to be,†Loutos said. “It could have gone a lot of different ways for me. It doesn’t matter what school you go to if you keep working and you’re going enough, it will find a way.â€
Donovan improved, still limited
Brendan Donovan experienced some relief in the stiff neck that made it impossible for him to turn his head and kept him out of the series against the Phillies. Donovan hoped to take some swings before Sunday night’s game at Citizens Bank Park and test how much treatment and the training staff had been able to loosen his neck muscles.
Donovan said his neck seized on him while hitting before Friday’s game. He did not believe there was a specific event that triggered the injury or a jarring play earlier in the week that caught up with him. The pain and stiffness was so severe he could not turn his head to see the pitcher.
Even Sunday, he would rotate his shoulders rather than his neck when turning to speak.
“My head is turning a lot better,†he said. “We’ve done a little bit of everything to get that inflammation and that stiffness out.â€
The Cardinals did not plan on using Donovan on Sunday night but said the type of injury and Donovan’s recovery by Sunday suggested a move to the injury list was unlikely.
Phils’ Suarez improved, still waiting
The bruised hand that forced Phillies lefty Ranger Suarez out of Saturday night’s game after two innings had shown some improvement by Sunday, his manager told Philadelphia reporters. The swelling had reduced, Rob Thomson said. In the second inning, Alec Burleson lined a ball that struck Suarez near his left thumb. X-rays taken of the area at the ballpark did not show any damage beyond bruising.
On Wednesday, the Phillies leave for London, where they will play the New York Mets as the Cardinals hosted the Cubs a year ago, and by then, Suarez will have a better feel for his availability. Suarez leads the National League with nine wins and a 1.70 ERA.
Former Cardinals infielder Edmundo Sosa, whose homer Friday night was the difference in the Phillies’ victory, did not start Sunday out of concern for hamstring soreness.