Former Red Sox pitcher Jeffrey Springs is off to a tremendous start in 2023.
The Tampa Bay Rays southpaw made his season debut Sunday against the Detroit Tigers, recording a nearly flawless outing and placing his name in the Major League Baseball record books.
Springs, who had a one-year stint with the Red Sox in 2020, pitched six no-hit innings and walked just one batter with a career-high 12 strikeouts, throwing 81 pitches with 58 strikes, in a 5-1 Rays victory.
The 30-year-old veteran became just the third pitcher in MLB history to allow no hits while striking out 12-plus batters in a season debut, joining José BerrÃos (Toronto Blue Jays) and Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers), according to OptaSTATS. Springs also marked the third consecutive season in which a pitcher has managed to do so.
Springs is fresh off a career year with the Rays in 2022. Last season, Springs went 9-5 with a career-low 2.46 ERA, striking out 144 batters while pitching 135 1/3 innings.
“I felt pretty good,” Springs said postgame, per Bally Sports video. “I feel like I was able to mix and move pretty well. Felt the fastball was pretty good early. And then just trying to use the secondary pitches off of that. … Overall, I feel like I was able to spin it well and keep ’em off-balance.”
During the offseason, Springs was rewarded by the Rays. Tampa Bay retained the six-year pro on a four-year contract extension worth $31 million in January.
Meanwhile, the Rays completed their three-game sweep of the Tigers, improving to 3-0 to start the new campaign.
