The final day of the MLB regular season has given us some rather peculiar sights to behold in the past. But who could have possibly predicted 41-year-old Ichiro Suzuki taking the mound for the Miami Marlins and blessing us with his never-before-seen pitching talents?
Well that’s exactly what happened on Sunday in the Marlins regular season finale against the Philadelphia Phillies. With both teams long eliminated from the postseason and nothing left to play for, Miami manager Dan Jennings decided to have some fun and hand the ball to his Japanese right fielder in the eighth inning.
It was the first time that the veteran had taken the mound in his 15-year MLB career, and he didn’t disappoint.
ICHRIO IS OUT THERE THROWING SLIDERS pic.twitter.com/CpZ0qO1Oiv
— Joon Lee (@iamjoonlee) October 4, 2015
Heck, he even flashed a filthy sweeping slider.
Ichiro will the nasty slider. #Marlins https://t.co/OdBcE0WUfV
— Max Wildstein (@MaxWildstein) October 4, 2015
Though Ichiro allowed two hits, including an RBI double, he retired three batters to work his way out of the eighth and even topped out at 87 mph.
Ichiro Suzuki's fastball peaked at 87 MPH
Appears he threw a changeup & slider too.
Career ERA: 9.00
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 4, 2015
Ichiro, who has expressed his interest in cameo pitching at the major league level before, finally got to see his MLB mound dreams come to fruition in Sunday’s finale. And not a bad effort at all, I must say.
And hey, it looks like he’s already a better pitcher than Cam Bedrosian!
H/T SB Nation
Image via Marlins on Twitter
