With the Angels up 10-0 late (it turned into a no-hitter!), the Rays decided to use position player Brett Philips on the mound to preserve their actual arms. Following suit, the Angels third baseman, Anthony Rendon, who had taken all of his previous 4,524 MLB plate appearances from the right side of the plate, stepped up as a lefty.
Naturally, he went yard.
Anthony Rendon with a lefty homer!!
This game is MADNESS. pic.twitter.com/MXW56xuKgs
— MLB (@MLB) May 11, 2022
That’s always fun. Javy Báez batted from the left-side in a real game a couple times with the Cubs, if I recall correctly.
Rendon’s time with the Angels hasn’t been particularly productive these last two seasons (2021 and 2022), and he came into tonight’s contest hitting just .206/.319/.351 (104 wRC+). But, hey, who knows? Maybe he has a future as a lefty.
In the same game, Reid Detmers, 22, threw a no-hitter just 11 starts into his MLB career.
The Angels 22-Year-Old Lefty Reid Detmers Just Threw the First (Solo) No-Hitter of the Yearhttps://t.co/a8sssSxpr2 pic.twitter.com/Qh9VrOdJWg
— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) May 11, 2022