JUST IN:Red Sox reliever Justin Slaten gives his verdict on his debut

Justin Slaten, a reliever for the Boston Red Sox, had a difficult time getting used to life on an MLB mound.

In his big league debut on Saturday night, Slaten only faced one hitter, allowing Julio Rodríguez to get the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 10th inning.

However, Sunday’s follow-up act for the right-hander went somewhat more smoothly.

At T-Mobile Park, Slaten finished off the Red Sox’s 5-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners with relative ease. He pitched the remaining 2 1/3 innings, striking out one and giving up no hits or runs. Out of his fifteen pitches, twelve were for strikes.

Slaten also recorded his first career save after striking out Dylan Moore to conclude the contest.

As shown on NESN postgame broadcast, Slaten told reporters, “As good as last night was being the major league debut, it’s awesome, but still you kind of have a little bit of a sour taste in your mouth.” Thus, it meant the world to get the chance to tackle it again today. It was wonderful to have that support behind me as I decided to give it another shot.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, with two bases on and two outs, Red Sox manager Alex Cora brought in Slaten. The Red Sox’s third pitcher of the inning, Slaten, needed just one pitch to get Seby Zavala to fly out to close the frame.

After facing Rodríguez again in the eighth, he needed just seven pitches to get through the top of Seattle’s order. In the ninth, he delivered another 1-2-3 inning.

“You mean that Saturday wasn’t the best debut?” Reporters saw Cora’s statement on NESN’s postgame coverage. “As I previously mentioned to you guys, he was and still is a major league player. He went out there and performed a fantastic job of mixing up his pitches, using a cutter, curveball, and solid fastball, to go against the core of their order.

This offseason, the Red Sox acquired Slaten in an unconventional way. The Texas Rangers traded for the 26-year-old when they were chosen by the New York Mets in the Rule 5 draft. Then the Red Sox traded for him right away.

And the Red Sox firmly think that this season, he can transform from an underappreciated asset to a crucial member of Boston’s bullpen.

Cora remarked, “He’s not just a Rule 5 guy.” “This is a guy who will be good for us and help us win a lot of games if we keep him in the strike zone.”