Rays fan favorite Brett Phillips took the mound for a rare pitching appearance Friday night in Buffalo—in fact, it was his first time pitching at the major-league level—and, like everything Phillips does on a baseball diamond, it was an absolute delight. The 27-year-old, best known for his infectious laugh and World Series heroics, couldn’t contain his excitement, sprinting in from the right-field bullpen when the call finally came from manager Kevin Cash.
With Tampa Bay trailing Toronto 10-1 in the eighth inning, Phillips began his outing with a 94.3-mph fastball to pinch-hitter Jonathan Davis. That’s mighty impressive cheese for a position player, though Phillips never went to his fastball again, taking the term “changing speeds” to its logical conclusion by relying on his eephus pitch, which clocked between 45-50 mph. Here’s footage of the outfielder displaying some WILD mechanics while getting loose in the Rays’ pen.
Phillips’ control was spotty at times (he walked two batters while also yielding hits to Santiago Espinal and All-Star starter Marcus Semien), though his “slider” (as MLB.com’s game log generously chose to call it) did puzzle some hitters, generating a pair of swinging strikes. Replicating the iconic crouch made famous by Tigers pitcher Mark “The Bird” Fidrych in the 1970s, Phillips lost his grip on this one, resulting in a balk.
On a night the Rays allowed 11 runs, Phillips, for all his quirks, proved to be a surprisingly steady force, letting just one run come across in his lone inning of work. The slumping Rays, losers of four straight and 11 of their last 15, trail division-leading Boston by 4.5 games at the season’s halfway mark.
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