The Mets were trouncing the Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday, so Phillies Manager Gabe Kapler wanted to save his bullpen for the nightcap.
Center fielder Roman Quinn and shortstop Scott Kingery combined to throw the final three innings of an eventual 24-4 loss, with Quinn giving up 7 runs in 1 2/3 innings and Kingery allowing 2 in 1 1/3 innings.
"In that particular situation, our best relievers are not excited about coming into those kinds of games, those lopsided games," Kapler said. "On the flip side, a couple position players enjoyed it. A 24-4 game and a 5-4 game both count as a loss. And so our strategy is to be best positioned to win the next game."
Of course "mop-up" duty, as it's often called, has been going on in baseball since bullpens were actually in fields used by bulls, and relatively few relievers have been "excited" about having to finish up a lopsided game.
But using position players to pitch no longer is an anomaly, so everyone shrugged. As Cubs President Theo Epstein used to say, "baseball is a copycat league," and this is the latest example.
The 56 pitching appearances by position players through Thursday is a modern record, easily eclipsing last year's record of 31. Expanded rosters in September should allow managers to empty their bullpens, if necessary, so the use of position players should slow.
According to ESPN Stats and Info, 24 teams have used a position player at least once, while the Cubs and Brewers lead the majors with six position-player appearances (by five different Cubs and two different Brewers).
Everyone gets a good laugh, as when Anthony Rizzo did it last month against the Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field, lobbing two pitches to A.J. Pollock and inducing a long flyout.
Some believe letting position players pitch is embarrassing, while others point out it's no more embarrassing than watching most National League pitchers hit. The only thing for certain is it's now an accepted part of baseball strategy.
The "bullpenning" of baseball has turned most relievers into one- or two-inning pitchers, and there's no room on staffs for the old-fashioned "long man" who can eat innings in a losing cause.
Many journeyman pitchers have had to perform such duties in their careers. There was value in the role, despite the fact the pitcher usually was not good enough to start or close, making him easy to "waste" in a blowout.
One performance that sticks out in my mind was watching 23-year-old White Sox reliever Pete Vuckovich coming into a game against the Orioles in August 1976 after Terry Forster put the Sox in an 8-0 hole in the second inning.
Vuckovich allowed no runs on two hits over the final 6 1/3 innings, keeping the Sox in a game they lost. In fact, the '76 Sox lost 97 games, including 18 of the 20 games Vuckovich appeared in from June 30 on.
He was a young arm on a truly awful team but did his job whether "excited" or not and learned how to pitch in the majors. The Sox let the Blue Jays grab Vuckovich in the expansion draft after the '76 season, and he went on to become one of the American League's top starters for the Brewers, going a combined 32-10 in 1981 and '82, winning the '82 Cy Young Award and helping them reach the '82 World Series.
Perhaps another Pete Vuckovich is out there on some losing team, hoping to get in work whenever he can to improve and open eyes for next year. Or maybe we'd rather laugh off the endings with position players.
Who knows the answer? But as a Little League aficionado, I'd prefer MLB allow "coach-pitch" in such situations. Instead of position players, get the manager out on the mound to show off his stuff.
Some, such as the Sox's Rick Renteria, could be impressive because they already throw batting practice. Rockies Manager Bud Black, who won 121 games in a 15-year major-league pitching career, can probably still bring it.
And who wouldn't love to see Joe Maddon or Terry Francona taking the ball from a pitcher and then giving it to himself?
But after Rizzo's appearance, one fan emailed me with an even better idea.
"Maybe Maddon is on to something that could be used as a marketing tool," he wrote. "We already have guest conductors for the seventh-inning stretch. How about guest pitchers?"
That sounds like a great revenue enhancer for baseball, which currently has less action than a Meryl Streep movie and could use some new ideas.
Imagine the Cubs calling on an emergency mop-up reliever from the stands, like the Blackhawks used 36-year-old accountant Scott Foster as an emergency goalie last year.
Qualifying fans could enter a lottery to participate, and when the Cubs are trailing by eight runs or so, Maddon could make a call to the stands for a fresh arm.
The money would go to charity, the fans would get a kick out of it and the designated mop-up man or woman would get his or her name in the Baseball Encyclopedia.
It's worth a shot, though with the Cubs' luck, Ronnie Woo-Woo would probably win the lottery.
Sports on 08/20/2018