You could not have scripted a much worse start for Cristian Pache in Miami.
The outfielder Pache made his debut for the Marlins in Saturday’s game against the Atlanta Braves. Pache entered the game in the sixth inning as a pinch-hitter for Nick Gordon.
It was far from a debut at-bat to remember though for Pache. He pulled off the almost-impressive achievement of striking out on three pitches thrown … followed by a pitch-timer violation.
You can see the video here.
Batters must be in the box and alert to the pitcher by the eight-second mark of the pitch clock. Pache took a little too long to get ready there and was thus rung up on a technicality by home-plate umpire Austin Jones.
The 25-year-old Pache went from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Baltimore Orioles as part of a big trade last week. But after getting just one lone at-bat for Baltimore (in which Pache singled), he got designated for assignment by the O’s. The Marlins then claimed Pache off waivers earlier this week.
This is far from the first time that we have seen a player get embarrassed with a strikeout via pitch-clock violation. But to do so in your debut at-bat for your new team is a whole different level of futility for Pache and the 40-70 Marlins.
