New York Yankees Bryan Mitchell Has Interesting Three Innings
By David Hill
Typically, when a pitcher leaves the mound, his night is done. Yesterday, New York Yankees reliever Bryan Mitchell was an exception to the rule.
Every once in a while, in a blowout, we have the joy of watching a position player attempting to pitch. Sometimes it goes well; other times, we get Jose Canseco. Likewise, there are times when a pitcher enters the game for a reason other than to head to the mound, typically as a pinch runner, or they head to the field if there are a lack of position players available.
Yesterday, New York Yankees reliever Bryan Mitchell entered the game for what seemed to be a normal outing. He entered the game in the ninth inning, with the Yankees trailing the Orioles by two runs. Then, the Yankees tied the game in the bottom of the inning on Didi Gregorius‘ two run single with the bases loaded. That was where Mitchell’s interesting day began.
As the Yankees bullpen had three pitchers left, it would have appeared as though Mitchell would have been done after his inning. However, as relievers Tommy Layne and Adam Warren had essentially been maxed out on Saturday, they were available only in the most dire of circumstances. With that being the case, when Aroldis Chapman came to the mound for the tenth inning, Mitchell moved over to first base, taking Chris Carter‘s spot.
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Mitchell quickly proved why he is a pitcher and not a first baseman. In his first chance, he dropped Wellington Castillo’s popup, which eventually led to a base hit for the Orioles catcher. He did, however, redeem himself later that inning, as he snared a foul pop off the bat of Jonathan Schoop for the second out of the frame.
With Chapman being done after the tenth, Mitchell made his way back to the mound. In doing so, he became the first pitcher since Chuck Crim did so in 1989.
Unfortunately, Mitchell’s performance did not echo Crim in terms of success. While Crim earned the save, as he bookended Tony Fossas‘ appearance, Mitchell took the loss. After getting the first two outs of the inning, Mitchell allowed three runs, ending up on the hook in the Yankees 7-4 defeat.
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Yesterday, New York Yankees pitcher Bryan Mitchell did something that had not been seen in nearly 28 years. Unfortunately, it did not end up with the same level of success as he had hoped.