Braves rookie pitcher recalls 'pretty bad' MLB debut against the Cardinals

If you would ask any player across professional baseball currently playing in the minor leagues who has not made their debut, they would be lying if they said they haven't thought about what the feeling would be like. In an ideal world, every player gets the chance to get called up and make their MLB debut, and everything goes smoothly when they arrive.

While we hear about a lot of feel-good stories around the league with guys coming up and having magical debuts, that was not the case for Atlanta Braves pitcher Nathan Wiles.

Nathan Wiles opened up about a rough MLB debut against the St. Louis Cardinals

Wiles was called up for his major league debut on April 22nd when the Braves were hosting the Cardinals. When Atlanta was entering the bottom of the 9th inning trailing 7-4, Wiles got the call to finish off the game and pitch the final inning.

With the adrenaline pumping, his debut did not go as planned. He gave up a single to Alec Burleson, got Jordan Walker to fly out, gave up a single to Pedro Pages, an RBI double to Victor Scott, gave up a sacrifice fly to Masyn Winn, an RBI single to Lars Nootbaar, and struck out Willson Contreras.

"My debut was nothing like I thought it would be," Wiles said of the outing on To the Show Baseball Podcast. "It was pretty bad, honestly. I went back down to Triple-A and have held onto that outing for a long time. Everytime I think about it, I actually get pretty pissed off because it didn't go the way that I wanted it to. That is pretty much my sole motivation for everything I am doing right now because I still am angry with how I did. I want to show that I can be a good MLB pitcher and face good lineups like St. Louis."

After the outing against the Cardinals, Wiles was sent back down to Triple-A Gwinnett and has pitched extremely well for the Stripers. He won a Pitcher of the Week award last week and has been firing on all cylinders as he works his way back to the majors. He has things in mind that he will change when he does get that next call.

"My sequencing was a little off when I faced the Cardinals," Wiles noted. "I didn't shake off pitches at all and I didn't really do what was working for me in the minors. I just need to remind myself it's still the same game and my stuff should be the same at any level."

Catch the full interview with Nathan breaking down his recent performances below.