Three-thousand and ninety-seven days, 1,132 minor league games, and 4,577 plate appearances after getting drafted, Jason Krizan is a big leaguer. At least for a night, there’s no need to worry about endless bus rides and desolate hotels.
Krizan, who was drafted by the Tigers in 2011, made his MLB debut Friday at Oracle Park in front of his wife, two-year-old son, parents, sister, agent and 38,256 San Francisco Giants fans.
San Francisco Giants. The Big Leagues. Oracle Park.
It took injuries to Joc Pederson, LaMonte Wade Jr., Evan Longoria, Steven Duggar and Tommy La Stella and positive COVID-19 tests from Brandon Belt, and Mike Yastrzemski for Krizan, 32, to get his shot. With it, Krizan went 0-for-3 with a walk.
But those details are just footnotes. He made it to The Show.
Manager Gabe Kapler called Krizan on Thursday night to tell him the big news, but then he and the front office had to make several other roster moves in reaction to mounting injuries and COVID-19 cases.
Jason Vosler (709 career minor league games) clubbed his first home run of the year. Joey Bart (197 minor league games) also homered. But Alex Wood (30 MiLB games) allowed five runs in five innings as the depleted Giants (13-7) unraveled in a sloppily played 14-4 loss. Even though the Giants got blown out, even though they allowed 22 hits — most since 2014 — it should still be a lasting memory for a guy who waited over a decade for this night.
At 7:13 Pacific Time, Krizan hopped up from the top dugout step and jogged out to left field, donning No. 56. Head high, with plenty to be proud of.
The life of a minor-leaguer is far from luxurious. Weekly pay for Triple-A players can be from $450 to $700. There aren’t private team charters or police escorts. The road trips are more Lawrenceville and Des Moines than Los Angeles and Denver.
Krizan of course had his doubts that he’d reach the bigs. A decade in the minors will sow some uncertainty. But he kept thinking back to what his dad told him when he got drafted in 2011. Play until somebody doesn’t give you a uniform anymore.
“It’s awesome advice because here I am now,” Krizan calmly told reporters from the Giants’ dugout pregame. “It would’ve been easy to, you know, just give up. But I’m glad I’m still here, I’m thankful for the grind. My road to the big leagues wasn’t normal, but I’m thankful for my journey.”
His journey included leading the NCAA in doubles for a season, stints with Detroit, New York and San Francisco. He and Curt Casali played on their first professional team together — the West Michigan Whitecaps of the Midwest League — in 2011. His jerseys said Flying Tigers, SeaWolves, Estrellas de Oriente, Mud Hens, Mets, Rumble Ponies, Gigantes del Cibao and the River Cats.
Then there he was, in the second inning, his journey bringing digging into a big-league batter’s box for the first time. The round of applause came from more people than he’d probably ever seen in a ballpark.
“I think it’s a pretty cool story, right?” Kapler said pregame.
No matter the change in venue, the game is still the same. See the ball, hit the ball. Krizan took ball one, high and outside, then chopped at a low Aaron Sanchez slider. It went down in the box score as a 4-3 groundout.
In any other situation, it would be a hit to forget. The Apple TV+ broadcast panned to Krizan’s wife, Kristin, who looked like she had tears in her eyes while reflecting on the journey.
“It’s surreal,” Kristin said on the broadcast.
In the fourth inning, Krizan knocked a sharp comebacker, but Sanchez snatched it and put him out. He struck out in his third at-bat as Giants fans made eight trips around the park with the wave.
Washington’s offensive eruption, and his struggles at the dish, tarnished — at least a little bit — Krizan’s storybook night. In the Nationals’ eight-game losing streak entering the game, they had scored 16 runs. By the time “The Wave” discourse began, the Giants were already down 9-3; their fans had nothing better to rap about.
Victor Robles, who was visibly peeved during the Giants’ blowout win last week in Washington D.C., bunted for a single while Washington held a big lead en route to a four-hit, three-RBI night.
Krizan’s final time up came in the bottom of the eighth inning, with SF trailing 14-4. The Giants, at that point, had already allowed 20 hits — the most surrendered in a single game since 2019. Living up to his reputation of putting together professional at-bats, Krizan fouled off two balls and eventually drew a walk in a lefty-lefty matchup. It took eight innings and over three hours, but Krizan reached base.
Before Friday’s first pitch, Krizan spent some time with his No. 1 fans, exchanging hugs and taking pictures with his family. Krizan almost started crying when his son, whom he hadn’t seen since the end of spring training, ran up to him on the Oracle Park field.
For the rest of his life, Krizan can tell his toddler son about this day. He doesn’t have to mention his stat line or the game’s outcome.
“My son doesn’t know what’s going on right now, but being able to tell him that I played in the big leagues. It means everything.”
