Rays pitcher draws attention for his hard-to-believe name

The Tampa Bay Rays appeared to have an NPC pitching for them this week.

Tampa Bay had an interestingly-named player take the mound for them in their spring game against the New York Yankees on Wednesday — right-hander Joe Record. The Rays turned to Record in the fifth inning, and he pitched a scoreless frame for them to earn the hold. Tampa Bay would ultimately hang on for the 4-3 victory.

The bigger story though was the Internet chortle over Record’s name. Many could not believe that he was an actual player, and the graphic that aired on YES Network as Record entered the game almost seemed like a placeholder error.

When video game generated names become real life pic.twitter.com/cVYeNQi4mC

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 6, 2024

Record, who also drew comparisons to Joe Random (the default Create-A-Player on the “MLB: The Show” video game), is all too real though. He was a 28th-round draft pick by the Minnesota Twins in 2017 and has spent the last half-decade or so in the minor leagues. Last season, Record posted a [ahem] record of 3-2 with a 3.71 ERA over 50 relief appearances for the AAA-level Sugar Land Space Cowboys.

Though he is 29 years old now, Record still has yet to officially debut in the big leagues. But he is not the only pitcher who has gone viral in recent months over an unusual name.