Aaron Myers became the talk of the Home Run Derby on Monday night, though not in a good way.
Myers, the Mets batting practice pitcher and “Major League Staff Assistant,” was a last minute replacement to pitch to Pete Alonso in the Home Run Derby, with Alonso looking to become just the second player in MLB history to win the award three times. Alonso had originally tabbed his former coach Mike Friedlein to throw him his derby balls, but Friedlein was a last-minute scratch due to tightness in his forearm.
So, Myers filled in, but he didn’t exactly fill the strike zone.
Facing a tall task after first-round opponent Julio Rodriguez blasted 41 home runs, Alonso only managed 21, with Myers missing the fat parts of the strike zone consistently, with much of MLB Twitter joking that his pitches were sporting the kind of location and movement that the Mets could use on their own pitching staff.
Quickly, Myers’ pitching became a running joke during the event, which was eventually won by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
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