Yesterday, the Nationals front office decided against blowing up the team by trading their many rental players – including Bryce Harper – at the deadline, and as a thank-you, the team put up 25 runs against the Mets. Seriously.
And like any team who has 25 runs scored against them, the Mets resorted to letting a position player pitch (something we LOVE here at Baseball is Fun), handing the ball over to shortstop Jose Reyes in the eighth.
And although Reyes pitching debut didn’t go too well (5H, 6ER, 2BB), it did result in some hilarious moments with Nats third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who was clearly enjoying the spectacle.
Watch as he first implores Reyes to slow down his delivery when Zimmermann isn’t even in the box, and then pretends to charge the mound when a 54 MPH curveball manages to knick him on the front leg:
The Mets were down 19-1 to the Nationals when shortstop Jose Reyes came in to pitch.
That didn't go so well either. pic.twitter.com/4gJrMx607e
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 1, 2018
Not sayin’, just sayin’ … Didn’t it sorta look like Zimmermann leaned into that. There’s obviously no reason to do such a thing when you’re up 24 runs, but that pitch was coming in awfully slow and his leg bends forward quite a bit …. In any case, everyone seems to be having fun with it and when the game is this lopsided, that’s the best you can hope for.
More position players pitching, please.
Anthony Rizzo is Now the Greatest Reliever of All-Time (VIDEO) https://t.co/OeBOVtpApA pic.twitter.com/bGn7JL8lym
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) July 24, 2018