The Seattle Mariners turned to third baseman Josh Rojas to record some outs late in their blowout loss on Sunday, and he got one of them with an absurd eephus pitch.
Rojas took the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning with Seattle trailing the Milwaukee Brewers 10-2. After giving up a walk and a two-run homer to start the inning, Rojas was able to record three straight outs. The third out came when he got Brewers pinch-hitter Gary Sanchez to pop out on a 40-mph pitch.
That’s right, 40-mph. You can see the video.
40
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( (> PER
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/ pic.twitter.com/vqfI4gWvv0— MLB (@MLB) April 7, 2024
That is not the first time we have seen a position player try an eephus pitch while saving his team’s bullpen. Though, the results are not always as good.
The Mariners obviously just wanted Rojas to get through the inning so they did not have to use any other pitchers. That was actually Rojas’ second pitching appearance this season. He can throw his fastball about 80 mph, so he probably felt confident that cutting that speed in half could fool a hitter. It worked against Sanchez and got Rojas out of the inning.
