Sarris: Are position players better at pitching than pitchers are at hitting?
From SABR member Eno Sarris at The Athletic on July 12, 2018:
Years from now, we may look back on this time as arcane and weird. A universal designated hitter would rob us of watching pitchers take their hacks, and who knows, maybe a mercy rule will rob us of watching position players float knucklers. We might not be watching pitchers hit and hitters pitch forever. And that’d be a shame, because Alex Blandino just showed us a hell of a knuckler.
This has been a banner week for both activities. Daniel Descalso and Alex Blandino actually went to the same high school in Mountain View, Calif., and both position players pitched on the same day. That can’t have happened before, could it?
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German Márquez, a pitcher, took Daniel Descalso, a hitter, deep. Watch it again and see if you can see the exact moment when Descalso starts to think about the ribbing he’ll get in the clubhouse.
This has happened before. In 1986, the Giants’ Mike LaCoss took the Padres’ Dane Iorg deep. But, since it happened this week — and who knows how much longer it will be a possibility — it’s time to try to nail down an answer to that important question.
Read the full article here (subscription required): https://theathletic.com/429678/2018/07/12/are-position-players-better-at-pitching-than-pitchers-are-at-hitting/
Originally published: July 12, 2018. Last Updated: July 12, 2018.