Baseball may be a game of tradition, but that hardly means everything is the same. After all, the National League and American League have different rules, the ball parks have all kinds of different looks …
The NL Central sure has some pretty sights, doesn't it? #OpeningDay #LetsGoCubs pic.twitter.com/mHJUOPs7nb
— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) April 2, 2017
… And the players, well, play with all different kinds of style.
Sometimes the differences between two playing styles is pretty abstract – like the passion and light-heartedness of Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic – and sometimes it’s very acute – like the differences between two pitchers’ deliveries.
The latter is often so obvious, in fact, that we’ve even been able to play games in which we guess the pitcher based solely off a silhouette of his delivery (BTW: I got 6/9 right. Think you can do better?).
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Well, if that quiz was redone today and the following Red Sox prospect was included, I don’t think ANYONE (even me!) would have any trouble identifying the correct answer.
Check it out:
That’s the delivery belongs to Red Sox prospect Roniel Raudes, a 19-year-old right-hander from Nicaragua. And it sure is a strange one.
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Mark Townsend (Yahoo Sports) isn’t entirely sure if the delivery is simply meant as a timing mechanism or a device to distract the batter (it’s probably a bit of both), but at least it’s more legal than whatever the heck Carter Capps has been trying to get away with.
One thing’s for sure, if distraction is what Raudes is going for, he’s succeeded:
Is This Red Sox Prospect's Delivery The Weirdest You've Seen?https://t.co/b43fsu7Eav pic.twitter.com/ZkyrDy9zXf
— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) April 3, 2017
I’m in a trance.
So what’s the verdict? Does this Red Sox pitching prospect own the strangest pre-pitch routine you’ve ever seen? I think it might be pretty close.
Now *that's* an unorthodox delivery. pic.twitter.com/1pSEAVx3ps
— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) February 15, 2017
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