SAN DIEGO — Kyle Hart took the Petco Park mound Monday in rare company. He left it as a singular figure and, at long last, a fully initiated major leaguer.
Hart, a left-handed newcomer to the San Diego Padres, entered the day as one of 24 players whose entire big-league career took place within the bizarre confines of the 2020 pandemic season. That summer, there were no fans in ballparks. Hart made four largely unattended appearances for the Boston Red Sox and, still dealing with the lingering effects of Lyme disease, struggled to a 15.55 ERA.
Over the next three seasons, he bounced around the upper levels of the minor leagues for three organizations. He ventured in 2024 to the Korea Baseball Organization, where he won that league’s version of the Cy Young Award and recaptured the attention of major-league teams. The Padres signed him last month to a one-year, $1 million guarantee.
Six weeks later — and 1,691 days after he debuted in an empty Fenway Park — Hart threw five innings before an announced crowd of 43,404 in downtown San Diego. The Padres’ new No. 5 starter held the Cleveland Guardians to two runs, limiting the damage to a pair of solo homers. He struck out four batters and walked only one. And he exited the field Monday amid a confluence of individual and collective success.
Hart, 32, not only helped himself in the best performance of his big-league career. As he became the first player from the 2020-only club to climb back to the majors, he also helped the Padres to a 7-2 victory and the first 5-0 start in franchise history.
Later, after a celebratory beer shower, he reflected on his return to the sport’s highest level.
“Most guys, you hear maybe two years or three years since they’ve been in the big leagues. But five years, it’s almost like those guys are gone, right?” Hart said. “So, I’ll give myself credit. I worked really hard and had some success. But (there have been) so many good people around me, and then once I got here, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is the spot for me.’ This clubhouse, they lift you up, every single one of these guys.”
First big league K.
Welcome to the show, Kyle Hart! pic.twitter.com/z80dymDAMS
— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 13, 2020
The supporting cast Monday included fellow newcomer Gavin Sheets, who supplied three hits and four RBIs; third baseman Manny Machado, who deked his way to a double play on defense; and right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., who made a sliding catch to end the top of the fifth. That play drew a roar from Petco Park’s fifth sellout crowd of the young season. Hart, knowing he was likely done for the night, struggled to contain his emotions.
“I felt like the crowd was out there on the mound with me,” Hart said. “When I saw Tati (make that catch), I was kind of beside myself.”
Hart did not succumb to sensory overload in his Padres debut. He recalled pitching in front of robust crowds in baseball-crazed South Korea. More recently, he prepared himself for his big-league return by watching four other Padres starters navigate Petco Park’s raucous environment.
“Petco’s amazing,” Hart said. “I haven’t been to all the ballparks in the country, but I find it hard to believe there’s many better than this one. I mean, it’s Monday night, and there’s 43-and-change here. I don’t know who else is doing that consistently.”
His Padres debut could be described as a mixed bag, at least in the beginning. Hart opened the game by striking out Cleveland’s Steven Kwan, the second-hardest hitter in baseball to strike out (behind Padres first baseman Luis Arraez). The next batter, perennial MVP candidate José Ramirez, launched a solo shot into the Western Metal building. Two innings later, so did former Padres catcher Austin Hedges.
But Hart limited the damage to that pair of home runs. He pitched around five hits and utilized a solid Padres defense. He got six swings-and-misses with his changeup, his best pitch. Meanwhile, he showcased improved velocity and a sharper overall repertoire from when he last appeared in the majors. Back then, he was far from the best version of himself.
In the spring of 2020, Lyme disease caused the 6-foot-5 Hart to drop down to 186 pounds ahead of his major-league debut. He experienced short-term memory loss, even within the few games he pitched for the Red Sox. Monday, he acknowledged that, at the time, he downplayed the effects of his illness.
Now, he is up to 210 pounds and, at long last, a fully initiated major leaguer.
“This would probably be better than anything I imagined. Especially at Petco against Cleveland,” Hart, a Cincinnati native, said. “I’m not the biggest Cleveland sports fan. Anytime you can beat Cleveland is good.”
(Photo of Kyle Hart pitching against the Guardians on Monday: Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images)
