Predicting The First Blue Jays Major League Debut Of 2013

Last year, the Toronto Blue Jays had nine players make their Major League debut: Evan Crawford, Drew Hutchison, Yan Gomes, Sam Dyson, Aaron Loup, Anthony Gose, Moises Sierra, Adeiny Hechavarria, and Chad Jenkins. Unless things go very, very wrong, the Blue Jays will have far fewer debuts this season. In fact, jays182 commented several days ago that he thinks it will take until September for someone to be called up to make his debut this year.

That got me looking through each of the Jays' past 36 seasons to see which player made the team's first Major League debut, and the date when he stepped onto the field for the first time. Here is the compiled list (source: Baseball-Reference.com):

(1) Garth Iorg made his debut by coming up to bat in the bottom of the first inning. Willie Upshaw also made his debut in this game, as defensive replacement for John Mayberry before the bottom of the third.
(2) Bobby Brown made his debut by coming up to bat in the top of the second inning. Ted Wilborn made his debut minutes later as defensive replacement for Rick Bosetti before the the top of the second.
(3) Pete Munro made his debut in relief of Dan Plesac in the bottom of the seventh inning. Tom Davey also made his debut, in before the next inning when he relieved Munro.
(4) Eric Hinske made his debut by coming up to bat in the top of the first inning. Scott Cassidy made his debut in the bottom of the fourth, relieving Scott Eyre.

As you can see, the Blue Jays have welcomed a new player to the Major Leagues in every single season. What was surprising was that the latest they ever had a Major League debut was on May 24 in 1980, when Lloyd Moseby popped up against Luis Tiant in the bottom of the third inning.

While anything can happen, there is a pretty strong possibility this club will break the record in 2013, as most players currently on the 40-man roster have already played in the Major Leagues. In fact, the only players on the roster who have yet to do so are A.J. Jimenez and Ryan Goins. Last spring, there were five: Alan Farina, Travis d'Arnaud, Adeiny Hechavarria, Mike McDade, and Moises Sierra. Looking at non-roster invitees, the seven without Major League experience are Jack Murphy, Ricardo Nanita, Jim Negrych, Sean Nolin, Sean Ochinko, Ryan Schimpf, and John Stilson.

Let's turn this into a game! In the comments, guess: 1) who you think will be the first player to make a Major League debut with the Blue Jays in 2013, 2) the date of his debut, and as a potential tie breaker, the inning of his debut. If multiple people guess the same player, the person who guesses the date closest to his actual debut date (either before or after) wins*, and the debut inning will serve as a second tiebreaker if necessary. Consolation prize* will go to the person who guesses the wrong player but the closest date. (*There is no prize.)

My pick: Ricardo Nanita, June 24, bottom of the first. What's yours?