The Last of the Breed

[Edgy MD]

Twins backup infielder Ryan Fitzgerald was called in to pitch the bottom of the eighth against the Angels last week as his team trailed 12-0. He no doubt lobbed it in there, but managed to keep the score where it was, throwing a shutout inning on 15 pitches.

But along with the pitcher, the Twins lifted their DH Trevor Larnach, allowing Fitzgerald to come up in the bottom of the inning as a batting pitcher. And wouldn't you know it? He managed to belt a two-run homer — the only homerun by a pitcher for any MLB team in 2025.

But, of course, he wasn't a pitcher, so much as a "pitcher." He wasn't actually taking the mound in a competitive sense.

Still and all, a pitcher homerun is an endangered species, so we take them where we can get them. The last character to pull off the trick was also a position player taking the mound — Isiah Kiner-Falefa (who is a Kiner, after all) back in 2023. As was Luis Gonzalez when he did it in 2022. Luis may have a homerun-hitter's name, but his dinger was off Albert Pujols so it was double ******** — a non-pitcher pitcher batting against a non-pitcher pitcher.

We therefore have to go back to 2021 — the last time a pitcher had to bat in order to continue playing — to find the last MLB homerun by a pitcher who was actually on the roster as a pitcher, and wasn't named Shohei.

It went down on October 3, 2021. Name that guy.

[fimg=600]http://clipart-library.com/img/1785658.jpg[/fimg]

[Fman99]

Didn't deGrom do this as a Met just as we were lamenting that we'd never see it happen any more?

[Edgy MD]

Jacob deGrom's last homer was August 23, 2019 against the Braves and Mike Mike Foltynewicz. Best as I can tell, that is also the last homerun by a Mets pitcher.

The Mets were down 1-0 in the sixth at the time, because the Mets had rules about scoring when deGrom was on the mound.

In fact, deGrom hit three homers as a Met, with the Mets down 1-0, with the Mets up 1-0, and with the Mets (again) down 1-0.

[MFS62]

Pitchers are usually the best players on their Little League and school teams. When they're not pitching, they're playing shortstop. So it was not unusual to find some who could hit once they turned pro.

In these days of carrying many pitchers and fewer position players on the active roster, I've wonder why we don't see more pitchers batting. (Of course, the crazy extra inning rule has reduced some of those opportunities.)

Maclean was recently converted to a full time pitcher. I wonder if we'll see him come to bat any time soon.

As for the question, I have no answer.

Later