Padres' Hart, one of MLB's 'Lost Boys,' gets win in return to majors
Published
San Diego Padres lefty pitcher Kyle Hart made two major milestones in the team's 7-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Monday in which he pitched five innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts.
He earned his first major league win, and he shook the unofficial title of "Lost Boy."
The Lost Boys - so named in a post on Reddit - refers to a group of 24 players who made their major league debut in 2020 and never returned to the majors afterwards.
The distinction centers on the fact that they never got to play in front of fans, as restrictions surrounding the COVID 19 pandemic meant the 2020 season was played with empty stadiums.
Hart pitched in four games with the Boston Red Sox that season, making three starts, and finished with an 0-1 record and an earned-run average of 15.55.
The 32-year-old lefty bounced around the minors in the years following, making stops in the Seattle Mariners and Philadelphia Phillies systems before spending last season with the NC Dinos of the Korean Baseball Organization. Hart earned the Choi Dong-won Award with the Dinos, KBO's version of the Cy Young Award, and leveraged that into finally landing with the Padres and a major-league deal this year.
“I’ve waited a long time,” Hart said after the game and celebration, “for that beer shower right there.”
“I mean, it’s been five years,” Hart said. “You hear guys, maybe it’s been two years, three years since they’ve been in the big leagues. But at five years, it’s almost like, ‘OK, those guys are gone.' I’ll give myself credit, I’ve worked really hard and had some success. But there were so many good people around me.”
Hart's family was finally able to join in on the celebration as well, something they were robbed of when he made his debut.
“We couldn’t even be there [for Kyle’s debut],” father Roger said on Monday. "This was our first chance to see him pitch at the Major League Baseball level."
“That was a good feeling to be able to be here for that - just to be a part of it.”
Hart, a native of Cincinnati, reveled in the perfection of his debut in front of fans.
“This would probably be better than anything I imagined,” Hart said. “Especially at Petco. And against Cleveland ... I’m not the biggest Cleveland sports fan. Any time you can beat Cleveland is good -- as a Cincinnatian.”
The book is not closed every other member of the Lost Boys to shed their label and return to the majors - of the 23 remaining, two are playing in Triple A this season, while 11 others played baseball in some capacity in 2024.