This was a game where three position players pitched.
I touched on this appearance briefly in yesterday’s post in this series, about Victor Caratini.
Ian Happ’s lone pitching appearance in the major leagues came in a game where Joe Maddon used three position players to finish up after the Cubs were hopelessly behind.
Happ threw the top of the ninth inning July 20, 2018 against the Cardinals after the Cubs went behind 18-5 after eight.
He allowed a leadoff double to Harrison Bader, then walked Jedd Gyorko. A ground out followed, then former Cub Dexter Fowler came to the plate.
Happ threw two balls out of the strike zone to Fowler, then got him to ground out to end the inning [VIDEO].
A couple of things about that clip. First, check out the scorebug, which says that was a 79 mile per hour pitch. Statcast called it a “curveball,” which, probably not.
Also, note who’s playing first base — Caratini, who had actually taken over first base mid-game from Anthony Rizzo, who was pulled early in the blowout. When Caratini was pitching, Kris Bryant played an inning at first base, then finished the game in right field.
Say what you will about Joe Maddon, he knew about the entertainment value of baseball.
Category: General Sports
