If you had told me…

…that a former Timber Rattlers pitcher would be on the mound for the Kansas City Royals in their Opening Day game against the Angels, I would have said, “Sure. I can see Jeremy Jeffress getting into that game.” or “I don’t know if the Royals will push Jake Odorizzi to the big leagues this early.”

I never would have guessed that the former Rattler in the line up for the Royals would have been Nathan Adcock.  But, it was!

Adcock, who was the Opening Day starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers in 2008, pitched one inning, allowed two hits, and gave up no runs in his MLB debut.  If you remember back during the winter meetings, Adcock had been a Rule 5 selection of the Royals out of the Pirates organization.  He had originally been part of a trade that sent a horde of Mariners minor leaguers to the Pirates in 2009.

Adcock was one of three Kansas City pitchers to make their major league debuts on March 31.

A few feet away from Crow, fellow rookie right-hander Nate Adcock iced his arm.

Adcock, a 23-year-old Rule 5 pick, followed Crow with a scoreless inning in the eighth. And Tim Collins, a 5-foot-7 rookie left-hander, posted a scoreless inning of his own in the ninth.

Three major-league debuts; and 3 1/3 scoreless innings.

“For all three of us to get our inning in and have success — and still give our team a chance to win — it’s perfect,” said Adcock, who was at Class A Bradenton in the Pirates’ organization at this time last season.

Adcock’s parents were at Kauffman Stadium, too. And they watched as he quickly got two outs in the eighth. He then allowed a double to Jeff Mathis and a single to Peter Bourjos, but right fielder Jeff Francoeur saved a run by throwing out Mathis at the plate.