It’s been a busy week in Debutville, and not only because we were waiting to see if indeed the Cubs-Red Sox game on May 21 truly did signal the end of the world as we know it.

No, instead, quite a coterie of players made their big league debuts this week and with them several intriguing stories, making it tough to determine which one should be this cycle’s “lede.”

With the lovely nuptials of Prince William and his beautiful bride Kate still all over my trashy gossip magazines, though, I’ll go with the Royals this week and their promotion of yet two more pitchers to make their big league debut, Nos. 6 and 7 (and that’s not even counting position players!), left-handed starter Danny Duffy and southpaw reliever Everett Teaford.

DANNY DUFFY
LHP, Kansas City Royals
B/T: L/L H/W: 6-3/200 BORN: Dec. 21, 1988
ACQUIRED: Selected in the third round of the 2007 draft out of high school in Lompoc, Cal.
PROMOTED: Recalled from Triple-A Omaha May 18 when P Kyle Davies went on the DL.
DEBUT: May 18 in a 5-4 loss in 11 innings to Texas: The starting pitcher, he did not get a decision, allowing two runs on four hits in four-plus innings, walking six and striking out four.
NOTES: Considered one of the top southpaws in the Kansas City system, Duffy has been a little bit of an enigma but an intriguing one so the news that he’d be coming up to start against the defending American League champion Texas Rangers had people buzzing. Just days after lefty reliever Everett Teaford had become the fifth Kansas City pitcher to make his big league debut this spring (see below), Duffy was No. 6. Before his promotion, he was 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA in seven starts for the Storm Chasers (love that name), striking out 43 in 36 innings while walking 10. He brought a career 2.54 ERA into the 2011 season after four summers, though his 2010 campaign was interrupted by his departure from spring training which did not end until June. He pitched masterfully when he returned, working his way back through four levels, notably a 2.95 ERA in seven games at Double-A Northwest Arkansas, on the heels of a 2.98 at Advanced A Wilmington (2009). a 2.20 at Class A Burlington (2008) and a 1.45 in the Arizona League in his 2007 debut. Baseball America’s #7 overall prospect in a deep Royals system, Duffy throws a mid-90s fastball, a change and a curveball and has limited opposing hitters to a .214 average coming into 2011. Royals manager Ned Yost had only good things to say about his newest lefty pitcher. “I more than liked the stuff, I loved the stuff,” he told Dick Kaegel of MLB.com.

I also highly encourage readers to check out this piece on Duffy, written a year ago by the talented [b]Greg Schaum[/b] for his excellent Royals blog, [i]Pine Tar Press[/i]. I think it gives even more insight and information about Danny Duffy (as well as a great picture) and makes him even more of a player you want to root for: http://www.pinetarpress.com/?p=545

EVERETT TEAFORD
LHP, Kansas City Royals
B/T: L/L H/W: 5-11/155 BORN: May 15, 1984
ACQUIRED: Selected in the 12th round of 2006 out of Georgia Southern
PROMOTED: Recalled from Triple-A Omaha May 16 when P Vin Mazzaro was sent down.
DEBUT: May 17 in a 7-3 loss to Cleveland: The second of five pitchers, he allowed one run, a homer to Asdrubal Cabrera, on two hits in 1 1/3 innings, walking one.
NOTES: Teaford joins some good company in the Royals bullpen, in a bunch of guys who know what he’s going through. Tim Collins, Louis Coleman, Nathan Adcock, Aaron Crow. All made their big league debuts out of the Kansas City relief corps this season, just under two months into the campaign, and now Teaford becomes No. 5 on that list. Teaford had already caught the attention of his fans and teammates with his wheel woes this past spring when, as MLB.com’s Dick Kaegel shared on the Royals site, Teaford’s Ford T-250 pickup truck was stolen during spring training (it was since recovered, only a little bit the worse for wear.) He had his best season in 2010 at Double-A Northwest Arkansas when he posted a 14-3 record and 3.36 ERA in 27 games, 12 of them starts, fanning 113 in 99 games. At Omaha prior to his callup he was 2-1 with a 3.04 ERA in 10 games, three of them starts. He’d limited Pacific Coast League hitters to a .165 average in 26 2/3 innings, walking four while striking out 24.

RYAN ADAMS
2B, Baltimore Orioles
B/T: R/R H/W: 5-11/185 BORN: April 21, 1987
ACQUIRED: Selected in the second round of 2006 out of high school in New Orleans
PROMOTED: Contract purchased from Triple-A Norfolk May 20 when 2B Brian Roberts went on the DL and pitchers Chris Jakubauskas and Troy Patton, brought in earlier in the day for that night’s game, were returned to the minors to make room for Adams and OF Nolan Reimold.
DEBUT: May 20 in a 17-5 loss to the Washington Nationals: The starting 2B, he batted 9th and went 1-for-4 with a run scored and a strikeout.
NOTES: Adams enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2010 when he earned Eastern League All-Star honors at Double-A Bowie, hitting .298 with 15 homers and 68 RBI and kept it going the first part of this spring as he was hitting .303 with two homers and eight RBI in 39 games at Norfolk prior to his callup. A .287 career hitter coming into this season and Baseball America’s No. 8 Orioles prospect, he’d risen through the system slowly and steadily, weathering a few injuries and off-field issues. His first hit came in front of a raucous Orioles home crowd during an interleague matchup with the DC-area rival Nationals. “It was a relief to get that first one out of the way,” Adams told MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli. “It was a really exciting night, and I’m just grateful for the opportunity.”

TONY CAMPANA
Team, pos
B/T: L/L H/W: 5-8/160 BORN: May 30, 1986
ACQUIRED: Selected in the 13th round of 2008 out of the University of Cincinnati
PROMOTED: Contract purchased from Triple-A Iowa May 17 when OF Tyler Colvin was sent down.
DEBUT: May 17 in a 7-5 loss to Cincinnati. Pinch ran for Alfonso Soriano, scored a run which gave team a 4-3 lead at the time, and stayed in to play LF. Doubled on the first pitch he saw from Reds reliever Jordan Smith and drove in yet another run.
NOTES: The Cincinnati-born and bred Campana may have been playing for the Cubs in his big league debut, but he did it in front of a devoted home crowd that included a lot of friends and family. And no one could have been prouder than the speedster who has overcome a childhood during which he recovered from Hodgkins lymphoma at age 7, which entailed half a year of chemotherapy. Drafted out of his hometown university, Cincinnati, Campana hit .319 with 48 steals at Double-A Tennessee in 2010 after combining for 66 steals between two Class A stops, Peoria and Daytona, in 2009. A .284 hitter coming into 2011, he was batting .342 with eight steals in 30 games prior to his promotion.

EZEQUIEL CARRERA
OF, Cleveland Indians
B/T: L/L H/W: 5-10/185 BORN: June 11, 1987
ACQUIRED: Via trade from the Seattle Mariners in June 2010.
PROMOTED: Recalled from Triple-A Columbus May 20 when DH Travis Hafner went on the DL and IF Luis Valbuena was sent down.
DEBUT: May 20 in a 5-4 win against Cincinnati: Pinch-hitting for DH Shelley Duncan in the eighth inning, his two-out drag bunt single drove in Shin Soo Choo from third base with the game-winning run. It came on the first pitch he saw in the bigs.
NOTES: Prior to Friday night’s game against interstate and interleague rival Cincinnati, Cleveland Indians manager Manny Acta told reporters that newly-arrived outfielder Carrera had made a big impression on the club during spring training. “Sometimes these guys come up to the big leagues,” he said, “they are unknown and they can make a big impact and win a couple games for you.” Just call Acta “Madame Marie.” Hard to imagine a more exciting or “impact” debut than Carrera’s drag-bunt game-winning single in that game. Originally signed out of Venezuela y the New York Mets in April 2005, Carrera was one of 12 players involved in a three-team deal with the Mariners and Indians during the 2008 Winter Meetings, landing with Seattle. A .292 hitter over six pro seasons coming into 2011, his best year came in 2009 when he batted .337 for Double-A West Tenn and stole 27 bases. He’s had 20 or more steals every season since 2006. Prior to his promotion, Careera was hitting .317 at Columbus with two homers, 17 RBI and 15 steals, well on his way to making it six in a row topping the 20-steal plateau.

ANDY DIRKS
OF, Detroit Tigers
B/T: L/L H/W: 6-0/195 BORN: Jan. 24, 1986
ACQUIRED: Selected in the eighth round of the 2008 draft out of Wichita State
PROMOTED: Contract purchased from Triple-A Toledo May 14 when OF Magglio Ordonez went on the DL.
DEBUT: May 16 in a 4-2 loss to Toronto: The starting left fielder, he batted second and went 1-for-2 with a walk. He was also picked off first base.
NOTES: Named the best defensive outfielder in the Tigers organization by Baseball America, and ranked 11th on their Top 30 Tigers prospect list, Dirks earned the system’s Minor League Player of the Year honors in 2010 when he combined between Double-A Erie and Toledo to hit .296 with 15 homers, 63 RBI and 22 steals. He opened the month of May as the International League’s Player of the Week and was hitting a torrid .328 with six homers, 20 RBI and 10 steals in just 34 games with a .527 slugging percentage before his promotion. A senior sign out of Wichita State, Dirks hails from Hutchinson, Kansas.

JOSH JUDY
RHP, Cleveland Indians
B/T: R/R H/W: 6-4/200 BORN: Feb. 9, 1986
ACQUIRED: Selected in the 34th round of 2007 out of Indiana Tech.
PROMOTED: Recalled from Triple-A Columbus May 21 when P Alex White went on the DL.
DEBUT: May 22 in a 12-4 win against Cincinnati: The last of four pitchers, he allowed two hits in one scoreless inning, striking out one.
NOTES: With a 2-1 record, 4.67 ERA and six saves in 16 games at Columbus, Judy got the call when White went down with an injured finger. He’d posted a 2.68 ERA over 36 games in relief at Columbus in 2010 and was 20-6 overall with a 2.74 ERA in four seasons coming into 2011, including a .229 average against. Primarily a reliever, he’d appeared in 136 games, two of them starts, armed with a fastball and slider.

PETE KOZMA
IF, St. Louis Cardinals
B/T: R/R H/W: 6-0/170 BORN: April 11, 1988
ACQUIRED: Selected in the first round (18th overall) of 2007 out of high school in Owasso, Okla.
PROMOTED: Recalled from Triple-A Memphis May 18 when IF Nick Punto went on the dl.
DEBUT: May 18 in a 5-1 win against Houston: Pinch-hitting for Lance Berkman, he went 1-for-1 with an RBI double in the fifth, and stayed in the game at 2B.
NOTES: Not the kind of knockout tools you imagine for a recent first-rounder, Kozma is a solid player in all aspects of his game, especially steady defense. He brings a .243 career average into 2011 which, coincidentally, is what he batted in 2010 at Double-A Springfield with 13 homers and 72 RBI. He was hitting just .220 with 17 RBI in 38 games at Memphis prior to his callup and his versatility allows him to play at second, shortstop or third base.

TRYSTAN MAGNUSON
RHP, Oakland
B/T: L/R H/W: 6-7/210 BORN: June 6, 1985
ACQUIRED: Traded from Toronto for OF Rajai Davis in November 2010. Originally selected by the Blue Jays in the supplemental first round (56th overall) in 2007 out of Louisville
PROMOTED: Recalled from Triple-A Sacramento on May 11 when P Jerry Blevins was sent down.
DEBUT: May 17 in a 14-0 win against the Los Angeles Angels: The last of three pitchers, in relief of Gio Gonzalez’s seven innings of one-hit ball, he helped preserve the shutout with a one-hit one-strikeout inning to close it out.
NOTES: Another great background story, the Vancouver native is the nephew of the late Keith Magnuson, an 11-year NHL veteran. He earned an academic scholarship, rather than an athletic one, to Louisville where he majored in mechanical engineering and made the Cardinals squad as a walk-on. By the time he was a fifth-year senior, he was the club’s closer and had achieved enough status to be drafted in the supplemental phase of the first round of the MLB draft. A starter in his first year with the Jays, both to see if he could make the transition and to get innings after not pitching professionally in 2007, he struggled at Class A Lansing and posted an 0-9 record and 5.40 ERA, prompting a move back to the pen where he’s been successful ever since. He had a 2.77 ERA in 2009 at Advanced A Dunedin and was 3-0 with a 2.58 ERA in 46 games at Double-A New Hampshire last summer. In his Triple-A debut with the Oakland system at Sacramento, he had a 1.56 ERA and three saves in 12 games, limiting Pacific Coast League hitters to a .138 average in 17 1/3 innings while striking out 19 before his promotion. He throws a sinker in the low 90s, a slider and a splitter, a nice repertoire for a closer type. For now, though, he’ll continue to hone that repertoire back at Sacramento, having been optioned back May 20 when the As made a 3-for-3 swap on their pitching staff between Oakland and the RiverCats.

HECTOR NOESI
RHP, New York Yankees
B/T: R/R H/W: 6-3/200 BORN: Jan. 26, 1987
ACQUIRED: Signed as a free agent in December 2004 out of the Dominican Republic
PROMOTED: Recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre May 13 when P Buddy Carlyle was sent down.
DEBUT: May 18 in a 4-1 win against Baltimore in 15 innings, he got the win as the last of five pitchers, coming in to close out the game with four innings of four-hit shutout ball, walking four and fanning four.
NOTES: In Spanish, the word “esperanza” means hope. And the young man from the town of Esperanza in the Dominican Republic’s hope that he would return to the big leagues came to fruition this week. He did so in a big way with a huge victory May 18. Originally promoted from Scranton way back on April 13, when reliever Luis Ayala went on the DL, Noesi sat and waited for the call from the bullpen for more than a week to no avail before being sent back down on April 22, when the club recalled veteran Buddy Carlyle because — ironically — they needed a bullpen arm that had pitched more recently. This time, it was Carlyle who went down to make room for Noesi. And this time, out of arms in the 11th inning, they had no choice but to go to Noesi, who saved the day for them. Noesi had missed much of the first few years of his pro career after undergoing Tommy John surgery, which cost him most of 2006-2008, but he has come back in a big way, earning the #7 slot on Baseball America’s Yankees prospect list as well as a spot on the World Team in the 2010 Futures Game. He’d been impressive in his original debut, posting a 1.60 ERA in the Dominican Summer League in 2005 before the hiatus. In 2009, his first full season, he put up a 2.38 ERA in 17 games at Class A Charleston and finished the season with a 3.92 ERA in nine games at Advanced A Tampa. In 2010, he led the organization with 153 strikeouts, going 14-7 with a 3.20 ERA between Tampa, (2.72 in eight games), Double-A Trenton (3.10 in 17 games) and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre where he finished up with three outings. This spring, between his two stints at Scranton, he was 1-1 with a 3.92 ERA in four starts. If he returns to Scranton for a third time, it will be with that night’s lineup card, which was presented to him as a memento.

ERIC “TANK” THAMES
OF, Toronto Blue Jays
B/T: L/R H/W: 6-0/205 BORN: Nov. 10, 1986
ACQUIRED: Selected in the seventh round of the 2008 draft out of Pepperdine
PROMOTED: Recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas May 16 when 1B/OF Adam Lind went on the DL.
DEBUT: May 18 in a 6-5 loss to Tampa Bay. The starting DH he batted 7th and went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.
NOTES: The Jays knew they had to be patient when they drafted the Pepperdine red shirt senior who had been hitting .407 before he tore a quad muscle at the end of his playing season and indeed they were, waiting nearly two years before the athletic Thames was ready to contribute full time. But he made it worth the wait when, in his first full season, 2010, after hitting .313 in 52 games at Advanced Dunedin in ’09, he headed to Double-A New Hampshire and batted .288 with 27 homers and an organization-leading 104 RBIs. Before his callup, he was hitting .342 with six homers and 30 RBI at Vegas in 36 games.