Anyone Can Pitch: June to August 2022

 

Our chronicle of the wonderful pastime of position players pitching continues with the new Anyone Can Pitch cards, culled from June, July and August of this year. We're going in reverse alphabetical order because blogger apparently thinks reversing my image order is a cool and fun thing to do sometimes.

So we start with Brian Serven of the Rockies, who's been a backup catcher who might eventually take the position over from Elias Diaz, and has completely nullified the once-strong prospect Dom Nunez. Serven, in the midst of a 13-0 drubbing from the Dodgers, got an inning of work on the mound, and managed to score no runs and allow no hits. So hey, that's a good plus if he goes up the depth charts.

A friend of mine's a Mets fan, and the night of the deadline he was just slow burning because the Mets had done NOTHING. He was expecting them to get Soto or somebody and I'm like "...Darin Ruf." And then a few weeks later he messages me and goes 'joke's on you, Ruf's shutting down the Braves'. And sure enough, the former Giants bench bat was the only Mets pitcher that was able to keep the Braves from scoring any more runs on August 15th. Through 2 innings, Ruf gave up only 1 hit, and no runs. I joked the Mets should start him in the NLCS if they play the Braves.

With the lack of solid MLB options for the A's this year, utility infielder Sheldon Neuse has had to play a ton of roles for the club this year. This has included a pair of pitching appearances. Neither of these appearances garnered any runs, or any hits. And to Neuse's credit, on both occasions, he was throwing strikes. I think he might actually be one of the better pitching options of all the position players on here, even if he doesn't throw smoke like Christian Bethancourt does. 

Mike Ford has played for a few different clubs this year, and just hit a homer against his old club while playing for the Angels. For the majority of this year he was DHing in Atlanta, and not well at that. So far this year he's played for the Giants, Mariners, Braves and Angels, and the only one he's pitched for has been the Braves. During a tough outing in Philadelphia, Ford took the mound and didn't make things much better, giving up the second of Darick Hall's first two MLB home runs [in one night], and leaving the game with a 18.00 ERA.

The image of a Clemens on the mound shouldn't surprise anyone. However, the image of Kody Clemens, who made the Tigers as an infielder, on the mound should give baseball fans pause. Clemens, in between appearances at the bat, has made 4 relief appearances for the Tigers. Two of them were scoreless, the other two he gave up a run. Obviously Clemens hasn't been perfect, but when one of the people who taught you how to pitch was ROGER CLEMENS, I'm sure that some scoreless innings are gonna come naturally.

Elsewhere in Detroit, Harold Castro has also made 4 pitching appearances for the Tigers. Castro has given up at least 1 hit in all 4, giving up an earned run in two of them. He did manage to strike out a batter during the game against the White Sox, so that's at least a plus in his chart.

Diego Castillo was brought up as a hard-hitting infielder out of Spring Training, and while he hasn't been as hot as he was in Florida, he's played a lot of roles for the Pirates this season. Castillo has made two pitching appearances for Pittsburgh; neither went especially well, as he gave up 4 runs in each one. Like Castro, he did manage to strike someone out during his game against the Cubs. 

And we end on La Tortuga. I am saddened that no one has figured out how to properly use Willians Astudillo. The man is such a fun player, such a unique hitter, and the closest we'll get to another Bartolo Colon. Astudillo made two pitching appearances for the Marlins, and did not allow a run in either of them. He didn't even allow any hits. Yes, he has a fairly simple pitching style, not a lot of heat, but he stopped the bleeding. That is all these position players need to do, anyway.

We'll see if we have any more of these for September. 

Anyone Can Pitch: April & May 2022

 

With position players pitching becoming one of the most fun novelties in the sport, I figured I'd bring a new design to Anyone Can Pitch while keeping going my quest to document the best of the canon. 

The first of these came very early in the season, with Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Carson Kelly, now on the IL, taking an inning of relief to round out an early game against the Padres. He did well enough, only allowing 1 hit over 3 batters, and finishing strong in the loss. 

Elsewhere in the NL West, Giants rookie Luis Gonzalez, who has been a few useful addition to the outfield picture, has also made 3 appearances so far in relief. In 4.1 relief innings, he has a 6.23 ERA, 5 hits and 3 earned runs. With the amount of times Gonzalez has pitched by May, he might even make more appearances as we go, which is cool.

In a match with the Giants, longtime Padres power hitter Wil Myers made his first EVER career pitching appearance, which is a big deal. Say what you will about Myers and expectations, but he's still been reliable enough for the Padres over the years, and is the lone survivor of the 2015 contract-a-palooza that A.J. Preller tried. As a pitcher, though, Myers went 1 inning and allowed two home runs. So yes, I think he's better off in the outfield. 

Rounding out our inadvertent trip around the NL West, former Orioles infielder Hanser Alberto, who is now a bench piece for the Dodgers, has gotten 2 appearances in relief, bringing his career total to 4. Alberto has had one crappy outing, giving up two hits an an earned run, and one good outing, giving up only one hit and no earned runs. Both have been against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Matter of fact, most of the NL West appearances here have been against other NL West teams. Weird.

I haven't even made a regular custom of Andrelton Simmons on the Cubs yet, and here I am making an Anyone Can Pitch custom of him. I have odd priorities. Polishing off a recent blowout against the Reds, Simmons made his first ever pitching appearance, and turned the game from a 15-5 loss...into a 20-5 loss, giving up 5 earned runs and ending the night with a 45.00 career ERA. Hell of a contact hitter, but...eeeeesh.

I don't think that Dee Strange Gordon's 2022 season is gonna be a career highlight for him, especially after his years in Miami, but Gordon made his former big league reliever father proud by making his first ever career start for the Nationals. In 1 inning against the Braves, Strange-Gordon gave up 3 balls, 3 earned runs including a home run and walked off with a 27.00 ERA. At least he can say he finally pitched in a game. And if you think that's a cool moment for the Gordon baseball family,

Yep, Tom's other kid pitched as well this year. Unlike his older brother, Nick Gordon actually had a decent go of things on the mound. In the only appearance by an AL player in this post, Gordon went for 4 batters to close out a game against the Astros, and only allowed 1 hit and no runs. A more triumphant moment for the younger Gordon brother, and a marker that means all 3 baseball Gordons have pitched at least an inning in the majors.

I'll hope to have some more of these as the season progresses, these are fun.

Anyone Can Pitch: 2019

 That's right- I still have to post some of these.

In 2018, I did a recurring series called Anyone Can Pitch, where I documented examples of the growing trend of position players being brought in to pitch, and it went well enough that I decided to collect photos for it throughout 2019.

...but I was too lazy to MAKE any of these customs until last week.

Right. As 2020 customs are right around the corner, might as well finish off the last of the 2019 ones, so let's examine each of these, as well as how well they did on the mound.

Pablo Sandoval made a pitching appearance in 2018 as well, so this is not his first appearance in this subset, but his inning of work was a bit more well known this year, as it went with Pablo's scorching May and June in SF. Sandoval had a pretty immaculate frame, not allowing any hits or runs, but also letting the defense do most of the work. Hope he winds up doing another inning some time in 2020.

 Mike Brosseau was one of the many Rays rookies to grace the infield this year, and as impressive as he was at the plate, he was a little more refined on the mound. Brosseau, interestingly, had 3 appearances this year, averaging a 4.50 ERA while giving up 2 earned runs total. For the Rays, it's interesting having a guy like Brosseau as a potential two-way guy, especially considering the presence of Brendan McKay, a more pronounced two-way pitcher. Still, at least his ERA isn't too bloated.

 No, a more bloated ERA would belong to Cubs backup catcher Victor Caratini, who came in for 2 appearances as a pitcher this year, additionally giving up 2 earned runs with a 9 ERA. Surprisingly, given the team's split records, both of these snakebitten appearances came at home.

 Similarly, Chris Davis, aka the single most useless player in the major leagues right now, took a break from batting under the Mendoza line and stinking up the Orioles lineup in order to take the mound early in the season against the Twins. Given the potency of the Twins' lineup, it shouldn't shock you that Crush allowed a home run himself. Said homer he allowed over the course of an inning of play is made even more pathetic by the fact that Chris averaged 105 innings in between hitting home runs this year. He finished the year with 9.

 Now, if you want a home-run hitter who can actually...HIT home runs, I direct you to Yankee first baseman Mike Ford, who allowed two himself, and 5 earned runs, during 2 innings on the mound. Ford finished his appearance with a 22.50 ERA. Take THAT, Luke Voit.

 These Anyone Can Pitch cards also give pictures of players who're just trying to get innings for teams that may not be their most well-known. Caleb Joseph, former Orioles catcher, was a backup for the Diamondbacks in April, and his playing time went so well that he found himself pitching to the person who took his job, Carson Kelly. In two appearances, one to Kelly and one to John Ryan Murphy, he faced four batters and allowed no hits or runs, which is all you can ask for from a position player pitching.

 Russell Martin being in this series was good, as I had a lot of photos of him to choose from on the mound, considering that he made four appearances over the course of the season. He only allowed 2 hits over the course of 13 batters, ANNNNND had two strikeouts, which is a pretty big deal not only for a position player, but for a guy who might be playing his final season (no one has signed him yet for 2020).

 As his role as an infielder in Boston continued to lessen, Eduardo Nunez found himself making his first pitching appearance last year, giving up one earned run in four batters, and earning a 9 ERA.

 Meanwhile, as he was in the midst of a come-up in Pittsburgh, Jose Osuna took time out from his solid bench work to pitch 2.1 innings over the course of the season, coming up with a relatively human ERA of 3.86, and giving up a few hits and an earned run. I was going to end this paragraph with a badly-worded Felipe Vazquez joke, but then I decided it'd be in poor taste.

 Onto happier pastures here- Gerardo Parra, deified in Washington along with the use of a truly annoying song for two-year-olds, also made a pitching appearance in 2019, though it didn't go especially well, as Parra allowed a run for each of the five batters he faced, leaving with an infinite ERA. Thankfully, things would get better for the Nationals.

 Another guy in likely his last season, Mark Reynolds distracted from his subpar hitting off the bench for the Rockies in order to try the mound again (it went alright in 2018). His 2018 numbers were way better, as Reynolds endured an 18 ERA, and 2 earned runs over an inning.

 Another Rays infielder trying his hand at pitching, Daniel Robertson had a frame IDENTICAL to a similar line of pitching from 2018. 1 inning, 3 batters, no earned runs. Only difference is he allowed a hit, but a double-play righted things.

 Before being traded midyear, Max Stassi was struggling at the plate as the backup catcher for those...formerly-lovable Astros. Also, let's face it, with a face like this, Stassi belongs as a goon in a James Cagney film.
Anyway, pitching. He did that. He faced one batter, got them out. This kind of stat won't be appearing at all in the future.

 Jared Walsh was brought up as a potential two-way successor to Shohei Ohtani and Kaleb Cowart. This being said, Walsh's five appearances bring a stat line that looks a lot like one you'd see from a  professional reliever- a 1.80 ERA, 5 strikeouts, and 3 hits over 23 batters. Not bad for a start.

Finally, Baltimore bench favorite Stevie Wilkerson also made some mound appearances in 2019, 4 to be exact. While Wilkerson was responsible for a strikeout AND a save (rare for Baltimore pitchers), he did balloon his ERA to 6.75 due to allowing 4 earned runs.

Already. That's all the 2019 content I've got. Soon enough, you will see some 2020 CUSTOMS ON THIS BLOG. SPRING TRAINING CUSTOMS. WOO-HOO.

Anyone Can Pitch: The Rest of 2018

I did a bunch of these Anyone Can Pitch posts throughout the year, as this year ended up becoming, unofficially, the year of the pitching hitter. Since 2018 is over, I'll just unload the rest of them here. Besides, I've got another original custom series on the horizon, and I wanna get to those as soon as I can. I like posting consistently in January, and I'd love to keep it going.

Anyway, one of the more high-profile hitters to try the mound this year was Mark Reynolds, the journeyman home-run basher who mainly succeeded off the bench this year. Reynolds had a simple enough job- close out a loss against the Marlins. He faced one batter, and got him out. Not bad for his sole pitching appearance.

 Francisco Arcia had the starrier appearance, becoming the first player to pitch, catch, and hit a home run in the same game. Granted, said game was a loss to Oakland, and Arcia's pitching appearance consisted of two home runs and three earned runs over 2 innings. Perhaps he'll have better luck as a catching option next year for Anaheim.

 This year, Tommy La Stella had a rival for 'best bench player', and that was former Dodgers farmhand and current Braves specialist Charlie Culberson. Pitching an inning against Colorado, he also left with a 9.00 ERA, with two hits and one earned run, but at least he was a bit more useful at the plate.

 Meanwhile, Matt Davidson of Chicago became another example of a designated hitter who just had to wind up pitching, next to Kendrys Morales. Davidson, however, proved to be a reliable last-resort pitching option, averaging a 0 ERA in three appearances, giving up only one hit, and two strikeouts, over the course of 11 batters. One could even say that Davidson had a better average as a pitcher than he did as a hitter.

 Daniel Descalso was one of many Arizona position players to try pitching this year, including Jeff Mathis and Alex Avila. But Descalso, the veteran middle-infielder, was the only one with two appearances, though his season was a mixed bag, with 2 strikeouts and 3 earned runs across 15 batters.

 Mitch Garver had a nice come-up this year, stepping in for Jason Castro at catcher and making a name for himself as an option for 2019. Garver's pitching tenure, against Cleveland, wasn't much to write home about, but in an inning of work he only allowed one hit, and left with a 0 ERA. Just...no strikeouts or anything. So just as ho-hum as a lot of the rest of Minnesota's season.

 Brandon Guyer, the Indians' backup infielder of this era, had a similarly ho-hum pitching appearance himself, only pitching an inning, leaving with a 0 era, and leaving all the putouts to other defenders. At least he can get the job done.

 Meanwhile in Philadelphia, Scott Kingery, one of the more notable rookie misfires in Philly since...uh, take your pick, had an equally disastrous inning and a third against the Mets, leaving with a bloated 13.50 ERA, thanks to 4 earned runs including 2 home runs. I sincerely hope this guy can learn to hit at the major league level, as he does have the right idea.

...And then there's Anthony Rizzo. Beloved Chicago power-hitter and team-saver Anthony Rizzo. He pitched a little this year! I mean...he did only face one batter...and somebody else managed to get him out. But still, Cubs fans got to see this guy pitch...which has got to be kinda cool, right?

I'll probably bring this one back next year. I do, however, need to revamp the design of this AND Stars are Out. They're both a bit too 2015.

Anyone Can Pitch: Pablo Sandoval

It's a typical scenario for the Giants this year: last inning, they're trailing by a lot, and every pitcher's getting hammered on the mound. On April 28th of this year, it was against the Dodgers, who'd gotten 15 points out of them before, and were looking ferocious even going into the ninth.

The Giants, after a botched attempt by Cory Gearrin to stop the blood flow, called a puzzler from the bullpen: Pablo Sandoval, the city's hero of the decade, and steady third base backup, came in...to pitch the ninth?

I talked about Erik Kratz being an unlikely choice to pitch, but Kung Fu Panda might be even more unlikely, as he's a noted power hitter, and a noted...round player. They don't call him Kung Fu Panda for nothing. So seeing him on the mound must have been eerie to some people. I mean, he's never pitched before, so we'd be leaving this to the Season of Pitching Hitters.

Sandoval did pretty well, though: he allowed no hits, retired every batter he faced, and threw eight strikes on eleven pitches. Granted, he left most of the work to the defense, but Pablo Sandoval had a better day on the mound than most of the Giants' pitchers that day...which is an odd thing to say.

Seeing Sandoval pitch is one of the many reasons this season has just been great for hitters on the mound.

Next up with these posts? A journeyman home run hitter who did his best on the mound for a struggling third place team.

Anyone Can Pitch: Erik Kratz

Of the teams I've been featuring in this series, the Brewers may have the most accomplished duo of hitters that pitch. Not the most, but the most accomplished- both Erik Kratz and Hernan Perez have had three appearances each on the mound, and have both notched two strikeouts, which is more than I can say for most people in this series. Since Perez is currently dealing with a 13.00 ERA, I figure I'll talk about the other guy, possibly a stranger case.

Erik Kratz, pre-2018, was best known (at least to me) for being the Phillies' backup catcher during the  2012-13 seasons, when Carlos Ruiz had some suspensions and DL stints. He wasn't bad at it either, posting some good numbers in his games behind the plate, but after that season, he bopped around, and became a go-to backup-backup catcher. We're talking a borderline Sal Fasano type here, just with less stability.

Kratz landed in Milwaukee in a year that Stephen Vogt would be out for the season, and the starting option was Manny Pina, so needless to say he's gotten a bit of playing time as backup, and is arguably a better catching choice than Pina, with a .260 average, though Pina has improved in the last month or so.

Kratz, in three games on the mound, has also impressed, with only 3 earned runs to his name, three hits, and a 1.3 WHIP. Not bad at all, but it's some interesting stats from a 38-year-old catcher, who's not the fleetest of baserunners. This is also not his first season on the mound- during a 2016 season split between Houston and Pittsburgh, he notched 2 appearances, getting a strikeout with Pitt, but leaving with a 9.00 ERA in Houston.

I hope Kratz keeps up the good work, and I hope maybe he can pitch an inning in the postseason, just for the hell of it.

Next time I post one of these, expect a San Francisco legend.

Anyone Can Pitch: Tommy La Stella

July 20th, 2018. It was a Cubs loss for the ages, against the St. Louis Cardinals. Not only did they give up 18 runs to those ferocious Cardinals, but they had to pitch THREE different position players that day. Two of them, Victor Caratini and Ian Happ, I did not make customs of for this Anyone Can Pitch series. I didn't want there to be too many Cubs, as I've already got another one in the can.

Happ and Caratini did...well enough. Happ threw 5 strikes, but pitched a solid inning without letting any runs in, and only allowing one hit. Caratini wasn't so lucky, with 2 earned runs, an 18.00 ERA, and 10 strikes.

Tommy La Stella's turn up was...just another day for him. La Stella is the bench player extraordinaire in Chicago, playing several different positions (though primarily third base), and stepping in whenever needed. Putting him on the mound wasn't exactly a far-fetched request for La Stella.

His time on the mound, while flawed, wasn't terrible, leaving with only a 6.75 ERA, 14 strikes from 6 batters faced, and 3 hits, including a home run. It wasn't an especially lucky turn for La Stella, but it could have been a lot worse.

Still, La Stella proved his versatility on a team that values such a trait.

Next Time, expect a spotlight on a backup catcher that has notched THREE mound appearances this year so far, and isn't too bad.

Anyone Can Pitch: Kendrys Morales

Normally when I do these Anyone Can Pitch posts, I talk about a position player who was rather pathetic over his batter or so of pitching experience. Or somebody who ended up with a 95.00 ERA or something. Well, somehow...Kendrys Morales, the home-run-hitting DH in Toronto, is the one to break this streak.

During a game against Oakland on May 20th, after disastrous turns from Jake Petricka and Aaron Loup, the Jays turned to their DH, Morales, to take the mound. Morales...did pretty alright for himself. He walked one batter and retired the other three, ending the inning cleanly, and throwing 7 strikes on 16 pitches. True, there weren't any strikeouts, but from a guy who's built like that, you shouldn't expect many.

Still, Morales finished the game, and got out of there with a 0.00 ERA. Add that to his 13 home runs and Kendrys Morales has every right to be proud.

Next time, we'll take a look at a Cubs bench player who added to the list of things he can do.

Anyone Can Pitch: Carlos Gomez

Onto another edition of our sub-series showcasing the drastic measures when position-players have to take the mound. This time, we examine Carlos Gomez' recent pitching appearance for the Rays, a team which he hasn't been having the greatest time with, at least compared to his numbers with Milwaukee, and...even Texas, to be honest.

In a game against the Orioles on July 27th, 2018, in which Austin Pruitt had given up 6 runs to the Orioles, Carlos Gomez was brought in during the eighth inning...which would probably end up being the Rays' last inning on the mound. He got one batter out, which is a start, but...Gomez allowed four walks, three earned runs, and four strikes in 21 pitches, ending with a 81.00 ERA. Which makes his batting numbers look good this year.

Interestingly enough, he was relieved by another position player; backup catcher Jesus Sucre, who was making his second pitching appearance of the year, managed to finish the inning, and end with an 18.00 ERA...not MUCH better, but still an improvement.

Gomez' pitching appearance could have been a lot worse, but...his amount of walks doesn't make this one of the best uses of a position player on the mound, now does it?

I'll have another one of these up next week. Expect a home run hitter on a fairly depleted team.

Anyone Can Pitch: Jose Reyes

Yeah. A new custom series, in the same vein as Stars are Out. ANYONE CAN PITCH!

This one focuses on players who've stepped into the spotlight at their team's direst moments, and made a pitching appearance. These are players who are normally in the lineup, and either have no experience pitching...or maybe pitched a little bit back in college. Either these outings go alright, or...not so alright.

We'll start with the most obvious target- JOSE REYES. Last week, in a game against the Washington Nationals, as his team was losing by 20 points, the legendary Mets third baseman was brought in as a reliever, due to the lack of relief options by that point.

In his lone inning of mound work, he faced 11 batters, gave up 2 walks, 5 hits (including 2 home runs), and 6 earned runs in all. He thankfully got out of the inning, and finished the game for the Mets, but...he also ended the night with a 54.00 ERA. Which is pretty hard to do if you're a pitcher.

The best part was that Reyes tried his hardest, and still looked like he was having fun, just doing what he could to get out of the game. At one point, he hit Ryan Zimmerman with a pitch. Ryan, jokingly, threatened to charge the mound, before chuckling (with Reyes), and taking the base.

Overall, Jose Reyes' inning of pitching didn't especially help his team from giving up more runs, but he did his duty, and stepped in just so he could say he could. And that's pretty fantastic.

Next time we see one of these, expect a journeyman outfielder in an okay season, proving how weird his team's pitching staff has become.