Former South Carolina baseball star Carlos Cortes has made some Major League Baseball history over the weekend.
South Carolina baseball product Carlos Cortes made his long-awaited Major League Baseball debut earlier this summer. The former Gamecock earned his call-up in July and has seen some action for the Athletics (formerly Oakland Athletics) as a right fielder.
However, this weekend, Cortes made MLB history.
The Florida native is a switch-thrower, a gift that his dad encouraged him to develop as a child. He is a natural lefty, but he learned to throw with his right hand, too. This gave him some positional versatility and has allowed him to play the infield at early points of his career.
Against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, Cortes took over in right field in the eighth inning as a defensive replacement. Then, thanks to some substitutional wackiness, the A’s were without enough infielders for the bottom of the ninth with the score standing 3-2. For the first time in his brief Big League career, Cortes was needed in the infield. He stepped in at third base. Though no ball was hit to him, the ambidextrous Cortes became the first documented switch-throwing position player in MLB history to play left-handed and right-handed in the same game. The A’s also won the game, something that would have been more complicated without the versatile rookie.
Before Sunday, Cortes hadn’t played an inning as a right-handed thrower since the 2020-2021 winter ball season in Australia. He hadn’t seen action at the hot corner since four games in the Florida Collegiate Summer League in 2016.
It is unclear if the A’s have any intention of using Cortes as an infielder moving forward, but his rare talent was useful for at least one game as a Major League ball player.
So far with the A’s this summer, Cortes is hitting a respectable .294/.324/.382/.707 through 13 games. He has logged just two extra-base hits but has reached base 14 times. Cortes hit 17 home runs in Triple-A this season, so the lack of power could reverse itself soon.
During his South Carolina baseball career, Cortes never had to throw with his right arm in a game. He played all of his games as an outfielder, though he saw some practice time at second base. As a left-handed swinger, he hit for a .274/.378/.528/.906 slash line with 27 home runs over two seasons for the Gamecocks.
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Category: General Sports
