Breaking Down St. Louis Cardinals Prospect Nathan Church’s MLB Debut

St. Louis Cardinals prospect Nathan Church made his MLB debut on Sunday against the New York Yankees, where he batted ninth and was playing center field. In 347 at-bats in the minor leagues, he was hitting .329 with 13 home runs, 50 RBI, and a .910 OPS. To say he deserved the call-up is an understatement, given those numbers just listed. How did he do in his MLB debut against the New York Yankees? 

Nathan Church’s MLB Debut Recap 

Church didn’t record a hit in four at-bats yesterday. But there were some positives and some things he needs to work on. In his first two at-bats, he hit the ball very hard. The first pitch he made contact with had an exit velocity of 97.5 miles per hour. The second ball he made contact with was 105.5 MPH off the bat. He should’ve had a base hit on that second ball, but unfortunately, it was hit right at a fielder. 

In the field, he showed that he can cover some ground, but he also made a rookie mistake in the later innings. On a fly ball to him that was hit by Cody Bellinger, Church caught the ball in mid-center field and tried to throw the runner from third out instead of hitting the cutoff man. This mistake allowed Aaron Judge to advance from first to second on the fly ball. A mistake for sure, but it was a good throw. 

Final Thoughts 

Church didn’t impact the game in any significant way, but there were little things he displayed that showed the team they could have something with this player. Of course, at the end of the day, it’s just exit velocity and arm strength being discussed in an extremely small sample size. We will see what Church does going forward to get a better assessment of the player he is.