Ricky Tiedemann made his Toronto Blue Jays debut Saturday, and by Sunday morning, he was already headed back to Buffalo.
The 23-year-old worked 1.2 innings against the Yankees, allowing two hits and one earned run while striking out his first two big-league hitters.
It wasn't clean. It didn't need to be.
Toronto held on for a 4-1 win, and Tiedemann got to share the moment with his mother, Mimi, who is recovering from a double mastectomy as she battles breast cancer.
He FaceTimed her right after the game, according to Sportsnet's Shi Davidi. She'd watched the whole thing from California.
"She's doing good. They caught it early on, and we're figuring it out," Tiedemann told Davidi. "I showed her the field, showed her everybody that was here. It was special."
The 2021 draft pick once ranked as Toronto's top prospect before Tommy John surgery in 2024 and a string of injuries pushed his timeline back years.
Why the callup came and went in less than 24 hours
Brendon Little returned from the paternity list Sunday, and that move sent Tiedemann right back down to Triple-A.
Seven innings across three levels this season is not much of a runway. But the Blue Jays have been leaning on young arms lately, and it's paying off.
Toronto sits at 61-64, half a game back of the Texas Rangers in the loss column, riding a two-game winning streak and a 7-3 mark over its last ten.
"It's surreal, I really don't think it's sunk in yet," Tiedemann said after the debut. "It was definitely exciting and nerve-wracking, but awesome at the same time."
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8Z4pdN9-I34
Handing meaningful innings to a 23-year-old with seven professional frames under his belt in a wild card race is either bold or reckless, depending on how the next call goes.
Tiedemann gets to go back to Buffalo with a strikeout ball in his pocket and a mother who watched it happen. The rotation math still isn't settled, and neither is his timeline back to Toronto.
Should the Blue Jays have kept Ricky Tiedemann up instead of optioning him right back down?
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