Javy Báez bats lefty versus the position player pitching, a breakdown
What Happened
During a blowout, the Reds sent infielder Kyle Farmer to the mound to soak up innings against the Cubs in August 2019. Farmer's lobbed pitches barely registered on the radar gun, with most floating above the batters' heads. When Javier Baez came up, he stepped in from the left side of the plate as a joke, even though he's a natural right-handed hitter. Baez took a goofy hack and popped up to center field, where Starlin Castro went down to a knee to make the catch.
Why This Matters
Position-player pitching used to be a rare novelty, but by 2019 it had become a near-nightly feature of lopsided games as managers protected their bullpens. There's no rule forcing a hitter to bat from his natural side, so Baez flipping to lefty was pure showmanship in a game already decided. The Cubs were chasing a playoff spot in the NL Central that summer, and moments like this only happen when the result is no longer in doubt. Baez built his whole brand on flair, the tags, the swings, the personality, so a switch-sides at-bat against an infielder fit him perfectly. Nothing here changed a standing or a stat line that mattered. It's a reminder that the longest games sometimes produce the loosest baseball, and that even stars treat garbage time as a chance to have some fun.
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Key Moments
Who / What Is Involved
Players: Javier Báez, Kyle Farmer. Teams: Cubs, Reds.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentthe Cubs were blowing out the red so the
Reds had a position player Kyle Farmer
coming to pitch this one's brought to
you by affordable jerseys calm drops the
first up fan on the Left flash and the
camera did not even notice this while
editing a little good luck flashing on
the left and it doesn't work or maybe it
did he's a Cubs fan how about that look
at this pitching ninja crossover Wow not
a lot of consistency farmer not a lot of
good not a lot of speed didn't even get
registered with those kids fighting a
lot of weird things happen block games
look at these kids up top yeah that
dudes stretching out his shirt so much
oh man it's a shame that shirts getting
ruined anyway here's the next pitch and
this dude he knocks that into left field
that wasn't hobby buyers if you thought
that was it wasn't this dude pinch-hit
for Rizzo little happy gilmore step up
care teeny and here comes hobby and he's
stepping in as a lefty oh it is gonna be
good guys this is gonna be his old fun
he's not a lefty he's righty
and bam wall Starlin Castro dropped to
the knee swing pops it up to centerfield
but he went after it he went after it
and we're all proud of him for that we
all are look at this BAM the only pitch
farmer threw that didn't like go higher
than the batter's head and chair this
Reds fan
what's you doing what's you doing anyway
well black screen black screen this one
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