By Barry Millman
For Rico Noel, the 2015 season will be a memorable one for two debuts.
The first came in a spring training game back in March when he stepped into the batter's box to face comic actor Will Ferrell in his pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The second came Wednesday at Fenway Park in the bottom of the seventh inning when he entered the game to replace Carlos Beltran in right field for three outs and became the Yankees' 16th rookie to debut in a major league baseball game this season.
That's the most debuts by far for any team in MLB and just one short of the Yankees' all-time season record of 17 set by the 1912 club.
Despite the minor stir created by manager Joe Girardi's decision to deny him his first big league at-bat, Noel's 283 minor league stolen bases and strong defensive skills should assure him further late-game appearances before the season's over.
LHP James Pazos is the last of the first wave of Yankee callups with no prior MLB appearances and will tie the 103-year-old team record for debuts when he gets the call from the pen.
2015 Yankees Major League Debuts To Date
April 11 Matt Tracy, 26 LHP
24th round, 2011 amateur draft.
April 15 Branden Pinder, 26 RHP
16th round, 2011 amateur draft.
May 20 Slade Heathcott, 24 Outfielder
1st round, 2009 amateur draft.
May 25 Jacob Lindgren, 22 LHP
2nd round, 2014 amateur draft.
May 30 Ramon Flores, 23 Outfielder
Amateur free agent signed 2008.
June 12 Mason Williams, 23 Outfielder
4th round, 2010 amateur draft.
June 21 Danny Burawa, 26 RHP
12th round, 2010 amateur draft.
June 21 Jose De Paula, 27 LHP
Free agent signed 2014.
June 22 Diego Moreno, 27 RHP
Acquired as part of A.J. Burnett trade 2012.
June 23 Nick Rumbelow, 23 RHP
7th round, 2013 amateur draft.
July 11 Rob Refsnyder, 24 Second Baseman
5th round, 2012 amateur draft.
July 29 Caleb Cotham, 27 RHP
5th round, 2009 amateur draft.
July 30 Nick Goody, 24 RHP
6th round, 2012 amateur draft.
August 5 Luis Severino, 21 RHP
Amateur free agent signed 2011.
August 13 Greg Bird, 22 First Baseman
5th round, 2011 amateur draft.
September 2 Rico Noel, 26 Outfielder
Free agent signed 2015.
You can email Barry Millman at nyyankeefanforever@ymail.com and follow him on Twitter at @nyyankeefanfore.
