On Monday, little more than a year after he was struck by a line drive and required brain surgery, Daniel Poncedeleon made his MLB debut for the St. Louis Cardinals. What a debut it was.
Poncedeleon threw seven no-hit innings for the Cardinals against the Cincinnati Reds. Ultimately, the pitch count kept the rookie from going for the final six outs. Ultimately, the no-no was broken up in the eighth inning. That doesn’t change the accomplishment we saw from the rookie.
Yep, Daniel Poncedeleon is finished after seven hitless innings. Harrison Bader pinch hitting.
— Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) July 24, 2018
Twitter was in a frenzy as the no-no was in progress.
I don't love the decision, I don't. But what a remarkable chapter in the story of Daniel Poncedeleon. 7 innings of no-hit baseball in an MLB debut that, for a variety of reasons, was never supposed to happen. Nothing but props to that guy for getting to this moment. #STLCards
— Brenden Schaeffer🎳 (@bschaeffer12) July 24, 2018
With that out, Daniel Poncedeleon has now taken a no-hitter deeper into a game — 6 1/3 innings — than any #Cardinals rookie in his first career start since at least 1974 (and likely before that). Now it's 6 2/3. He's at 107 pitches. #stlcards #MLB
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) July 24, 2018
This is Daniel Poncedeleon's changeup.
Whoa. pic.twitter.com/zVdJxmHG1F
— Nick Pollack (@PitcherList) July 23, 2018
The change-up wasn’t the only pitch that got people’s attention.
This Poncedeleon fella sure can throw a baseball
— Bob (@Connor_Clark4) July 24, 2018
Several of Daniel Poncedeleon’s teammates tonight were also with him in Memphis when he was hit. Mayers, Brebbia, DeJong, Bader. To a man, they were bursting with excitement when he got his first call-up. Imagine them now. #stlcards
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) July 24, 2018
Well congrats to Poncedeleon on the no hit baseball
— Tommy Donoghue Jr. (@SWINGNMISS7) July 24, 2018
How about Daniel Poncedeleon? What an MLB debut. What a story. pic.twitter.com/1aFHqcNQbY
— Prospects 365 (@RayButler365) July 24, 2018
Daniel Poncedeleon, ah what a name. Maybe he has the fountain to keep up this no-hitter.
— Jonathan Thompson (@crimsonscholar) July 24, 2018
Daniel Poncedeleon. What a story. Just awesome.
— Coty Frick (@CJFrick) July 24, 2018
https://twitter.com/SadAuburnFan/status/1021564627036135424
Bumpus Jones remains the only pitcher in MLB history to twirl a no-hitter in his MLB debut, doing so in in 1892. But even if Poncedeleon couldn’t get those final six outs, he definitely carved his place in MLB history with Monday’s outing.