Westbrook feeling 'a lot of gratitude' after Major League debut

BOSTON -- It was a script right out of Hollywood, or maybe right out of Netflix, the popular streaming service that is chronicling the entire 2024 Red Sox season for a docuseries that will air next year.

Here was Jamie Westbrook -- all 5'7" of him -- with two on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, just one swing away from capping his first Major League plate appearance with a walk-off hit. At 28 years old, this was some way for Westbrook to make his debut after taking 4,233 at-bats in the Minor Leagues over the last 11 seasons.

With a crowd of 34,662 roaring, Westbrook stayed calm after taking the first pitch for a strike. He watched the next four go by for a walk to load the bases instead of a walk-off. When Connor Wong¡¯s drive to deep right kept carrying, it looked like Westbrook had set up a dramatic win for his team.

But Fenway Park is based in Boston, not Hollywood. This was life in the big leagues -- something Westbrook felt grateful to experience for the first time after being added to the roster earlier in the day. Wong¡¯s drive was caught by right fielder Wenceel P¨¦rez at the warning track.

The Tigers struck for four runs in the top of the 10th inning in what wound up an 8-4 loss for the Red Sox.

In truth, this was still a feel-good moment when you consider the long journey it took for Westbrook to get here.

¡°It was nuts,¡± Westbrook said. ¡°If you¡¯re gonna get in there, I guess that¡¯s the best time. Get thrown right into the fire. We obviously had a chance to win the game there, so I was thinking, ¡®Let¡¯s have a good at-bat.¡¯ The crowd was loud. When it got to 3-1, I kind of had to refocus. But it was everything I dreamed of.¡±

Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who sent the right-handed-hitting Westbrook up to hit for Wilyer Abreu because lefty Andrew Chafin was pitching for the Tigers, started visualizing the scenario an inning earlier.

¡°We knew that they [probably] only had one lefty available, but Chafin was probably only going to be in an emergency kind of thing,¡± Cora said. ¡°While the inning was going I was like, ¡®Yeah, it's going to happen,¡¯ and it was a great at-bat. We were [hoping] for more, like a walk-off, what a story [that would have been]. But it was a big league at-bat.¡±

Cora has a saying to every player once they make their debut. ¡°You¡¯re a big leaguer now.¡±

Such is the case for Westbrook, who is expected to make his first Major League start on Tuesday night against the Braves.

When Vaughn Grissom and Romy Gonzalez both went on the injured list with hamstring strains on Sunday, Westbrook was the corresponding roster move he always wanted to be.

Triple-A Worcester manager Chad Tracy called Westbrook in his hotel room in Charlotte, N.C. on Saturday and told him to hustle to Boston. Westbrook gathered his wife and seven-year-old son, and they were on their way.

¡°[Tracy] called me and said, ¡®Hey, I¡¯m sure there¡¯s been a lot of managers throughout your career who wanted to give you this call and I¡¯m happy it¡¯s me, and you¡¯re going to the big leagues,¡¯¡± Westbrook said. ¡°I don¡¯t really know what he said after that. That was all I needed to hear.¡±

Westbrook was a Red Sox fan growing up in Springfield, Mass., but moved to Arizona when he was 10 years old.

¡°A lot of tears,¡± Westbrook said. ¡°I just wanted to make sure the manager was serious and he wasn¡¯t joking with me. I¡¯m still kind of at a loss for words. Just a lot of gratitude.¡±

Did Westbrook ever start to lose hope that his dream would become a reality?

¡°Yeah, absolutely. Pretty often, honestly,¡± said Westbrook. ¡°But I¡¯m just happy I kept showing up, regardless of how it was going, where I was at. Today is a day I¡¯ve always dreamed of.¡±

Then again, when Westbrook was taken by his hometown D-backs out of high school in the 2013 Draft, he would have never imagined it would take him 11 years to get to the Major Leagues.

¡°If you were to ask me on Draft day coming out of high school, I would have told you I would have made $200 million and played in the big leagues for 15 years,¡± Westbrook said. ¡°Everybody¡¯s story is different, but it¡¯s so much sweeter now and I wouldn¡¯t want it any other way, so it¡¯s been a long time coming for sure. It¡¯s a beautiful day, it really is.¡±