Cooper Ingle saw a lifelong dream come true on Friday, June 26, when the former Clemson catcher made his big league debut.
Playing in “The Show” for the first time was nothing short of “surreal” for Ingle, whose Major League Baseball debut came with the Cleveland Guardians as their starter at DH in a 3-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
“I mean, a surreal day,” Ingle said after the game. “Something you dream of your whole life as a little kid playing baseball. The guys made me feel really welcome today and made me feel right at home. Just got out there and tried to put together some good at-bats. Yeah, it was an awesome day.”
Ingle acknowledged it was a little easier to feel right at home in his first taste of the majors when a number of his teammates in the clubhouse previously played with him at Triple-A Columbus – where Ingle thrived this year while hitting .284 with nine doubles, 12 homers, 41 RBIs, a .551 slugging percentage and a .416 on-base percentage over 51 games.
“Getting to play with a lot of these guys over the past two and three years has definitely helped, and building those relationships,” Ingle said. “The org does a great job of drafting good guys and good humans. But yeah, just being able to play alongside Chase [DeLauter] again and Travis [Bazzana] again. I played with him earlier this year, and people like Kahlil [Watson] and Halp [Petey Halpin]. Like, it’s a cool thing.”
Ingle went 0-for-2 in his MLB debut but reached base for the first time in his big league career when he drew a walk in the fourth inning against Mariners starter Luis Castillo.
Though he didn’t pick up his first major league hit in his first MLB game, Ingle was satisfied with the quality of his three plate appearances.
“Got myself into some good counts today and thought I took some pretty good swings and saw the ball well,” Ingle said. “At the end of the day, that’s all you can ask for.”
Despite Ingle’s rookie status, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt showed trust in Ingle when he gave the 24-year-old the green light to swing away with a 3-0 count in his very first plate appearance, which came in the first inning.
Ingle did just that and put a good swing on a sinker from Castillo. He hit the ball hard, but unfortunately it went right to the second baseman for a groundout that ended the inning.
“I gave him the green light, so never seen it before. Never really watched him play, and in that scenario – you got a runner on third, two outs – it’s probably the best pitch you’re gonna get to hit in that scenario. So, why not?” Vogt said. “And he was on time for it. Hit it hard, just hit it right at somebody. So, I love the aggressiveness. I love that he was ready for the fastball, and shows me he’s not scared to be here.”
“Got a good pitch to hit, and hit it right at somebody,” Ingle added.
After the game, the fact that Ingle – the third-ranked prospect in the Guardians organization, and the No. 68 overall prospect in baseball — is now officially a big leaguer really hadn’t soaked in yet.
“No, I don’t really quite think it has yet,” he said. “But, you know, I felt pretty comfortable today. But it was an awesome experience, and wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Ingle was drafted in the fourth round (No. 125 overall pick) of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Guardians.
Prior to being called up to the majors, Ingle played 281 career minor league games in the Guardians’ system from 2023-26, when he hit .282 with 33 homers, 173 RBIs and a .408 on-base percentage across 984 at-bats.
In three seasons (2021-23) at Clemson, Ingle, a 2023 third-team All-ACC selection, hit .329 with 29 doubles, 14 homers, 81 RBIs, 112 runs, a .476 slugging percentage, .425 on-base percentage and two steals in 126 games (120 starts). He also struck out just 62 times in 483 at-bats.