The 2016 MLB season has yet to be defined, but an early candidate is “The Year of the Hitting Pitchers.” The 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner, Jake Arrieta, is slashing .294/.368/.500, while Madison Bumgarner is hitting for himself (instead of a DH) in the American League. Oh, and both pitchers wanted to be in the Home Run Derby.
The year of the hitting pitcher.
But it doesn’t stop there. In fact, it gets even weirder. Six years after the last hit in his career, reliever Oliver Perez stepped up to the plate, pitching in long relief, and recorded two hits for the Nationals, including a double!
Here’s the first:
https://vine.co/v/5WBtwEIAwL5
And the second:
Excellent form on the slide.
Interestingly – or perhaps just coincidentally – Perez’s last hit came as a Met against the Nats back in 2010. The two hits last night came as a National against the Mets. We’ll update you in six more years, as soon as this story develops (/s).
(h/t Cut4)