Former Tennessee pitcher Garrett Stallings made his MLB debut on Thursday afternoon, tossing a scoreless inning in the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2 series-finale loss against the Cincinnati Reds.
Stallings came in to open the top of the ninth inning with the Brewers already trailing 7-2. He retired the first batter he faced before former Vanderbilt star JJ Bleday singled to right field. An Eugenio Suarez walk gave the Reds two-on with one out before Stallings got out of the inning with a fly out and a strikeout.
Garrett Stallings finishes his MLB Debut with a scoreless inning and his first K!
→ https://t.co/68EQQYUZ6Z pic.twitter.com/5RrkN5yAbt
— Brewers.TV (@BrewersdotTV) July 2, 2026
It was an eight-year wait for Stallings to make his MLB debut after the Los Angeles Angels selected the right-handed pitcher in the fourth round of the 2019 MLB Draft. The Angels traded Stallings to Baltimore in 2020 before the Orioles eventually traded Stallings to Milwaukee in 2024.
Stallings has spent the last two years in the Volunteer State with the Nashville Sounds— Milwaukee’s AAA affiliate. This season, Stallings has a 3.45 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 62.2 innings pitched with the Sounds.
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Stallings was one of the first stars of the Tony Vitello era at Tennessee, serving as the ace on the 2019 Tennessee team that made the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 14 years.
During that 2019 season, Stallings posted an 8-5 record, 3.33 ERA and 123 WHIP in 102.2 innings pitched. He was incredibly important in Tennessee making it back to the NCAA Tournament, notably throwing complete-game shutouts in key SEC wins over Ole Miss and Georgia that season.
Stallings made 35 starts and posted a 3.76 ERA over the course of his three-year college career. It’s been a long time coming for Stallings to make it to the MLB. The Los Angeles Angels drafted him in the fifth round of the 2019 MLB Draft and he is set to make his MLB debit nearly eight years later.
Despite Thursday’s loss, Milwaukee remains in first place in the NL Central. The Brewers boast a 53-32 record and have a 5-game lead in the division. They currently have the second best record in baseball behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
