J.P. Arencibia put together one of the greatest major league debuts ever on Saturday, going 4-for-5 with two home runs, a single and a double. No other major leaguer in the modern era has had that kind of production in their first big league game. Arencibia took an up and in fastball up and out over the left field fence. It was the first pitch he saw. Later, he took a low and away offering over the right field wall and rounded the bases to a standing ovation from the Rogers Centre faithful. He then delivered a curtain call.

Toronto is not the kind of city that demands curtain calls for home runs, or even chants players’ names in a positive manner, but they do have high expectations of their rookies. With so many disappointing seasons since winning the World Series in ’92 and ’93, fans often look to the future. Arencibia has been the future of the Jays for years now. He was selected 21st overall in the 2007 Draft and the Jays have had a revolving door of catchers as Arencibia grew as a player in the minors.

Arencibia earned a day off for his efforts. After all, he did dispel a long-running baseball myth. Apparently it is “that easy.” Playing in Triple-A Las Vegas in the Pacific Coast League, an overwhelming hitters league, Arencibia had 31 home runs this season, so the home run production in Toronto would likely taper off a bit, but Arencibia would have none of that. He took a bat that belongs to major league home run leader Jose Bautista and became the fifth rookie this season to homer in his first at bat.

Arencibia is not yet the every day catcher, but he will be. In the meantime, he’s filling in for an injured John Buck and will see split playing time with Jose Molina. Depending how long Buck is gone, Arencibia may be sent back to Las Vegas, but he’ll almost definitely be in Toronto as a September call-up. It is likely that only one of the two veterans will be in Toronto next season with the other sticking around to mentor Arencibia. Where Arencibia goes from here is unknown, but it’s going to be exciting to watch.