Every baseball player dreams of making history at some point in their career. Those historic feats are always positive, setting records for hits or strikeouts, finding ways to help their team go on to glory. While New York Yankees reliever Brooks Kriske made history on Thursday night, it was not the type of history he would have wanted.
Tasked with preserving the Yankees lead in the bottom of the tenth inning last night, Kriske was not up to the task. In fact, he was not really up to the task of finding home plate, as he tied a regular season record by uncorking four wild pitches.
Brooks Kriske: 4 wild pitches in the 10th inning. That ties the MLB record for wild pitches in an inning. Its been done 5 times previously, most recently by R.A. Dickey in 2008.
— Katie Sharp (@ktsharp) July 23, 2021
New York Yankees reliever Brooks Kriske ties unfortunate record
While it is worth noting that Rick Ankiel uncorked five wild pitches during his appearance in the 2000 NLDS. However, this is the regular season mark, and one that Kriske certainly did not want to set.
That sort of wildness is uncharacteristic for Kriske based on his minor league numbers. He only had 16 wild pitches and a 3.6 BB/9 rate in his 124.1 minor league innings. However, those numbers are far worse during his time in the majors, as he has seven wild pitches and an 8.7 BB/9 rate in just 10.1 innings.
Obviously, the majors and minors are different animals. The pressure is much different at the major league level. Kriske was also tasked with trying to notch the save, the first of his major league career. While he had recorded 20 saves in the minors, getting that first save attempt against the rival Red Sox proved to be too daunting of a task.
Hopefully Kriske will be able to put this outing behind him. Relievers need to have short memories, regardless of whether or not they find success in their outings. Dwelling on that disastrous outing will only make it worse, especially as he tries harder to keep the ball over the plate instead of just letting his pitches rip.
New York Yankees reliever Brooks Kriske tied a major league record on Thursday. However, it was not the sort of record he wanted.