J. T. Realmuto is not a fan of Jared Hughes sprinting to the mound, which is so dumb, a breakdown
What Happened
On August 30, 2019, the Mets and Phillies were tied 1-1 when New York loaded the bases in the eighth and pushed across two runs to take the lead. Philadelphia brought in reliever Jared Hughes, who sprinted full-speed from the bullpen to the mound. By the time he arrived he was visibly winded, sucking air between pitches and even faking a pickoff to buy time. He never recovered. Todd Frazier roped a three-run homer to blow the game open, and Hughes trudged off after one of the rougher relief cameos of the year.
Why This Matters
There's no rule that says a reliever has to sprint in, and most jog so they arrive ready to throw. Hughes turned a routine bullpen entrance into a self-inflicted wound, gassing himself before he'd thrown a pitch. The bigger story is what it did to a Phillies team chasing a wild card spot in 2019. Philadelphia was hovering around the playoff edge all September and couldn't afford eighth-inning meltdowns like this one. Catcher J.T. Realmuto's body language said everything, and the clip caught a pitcher who looked unprepared for a moment that mattered. Hughes, a sidearmer who'd built a career on ground balls and quick innings, signed a one-year deal with the Phillies that offseason and posted a 4.10 ERA across 51 outings. The sprint became his most famous moment in Philly, for all the wrong reasons.
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Key Moments
Who / What Is Involved
Players: J.T. Realmuto, Jared Hughes. Teams: Phillies, Mets.
Key Terms Mentioned
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentthe Phillies and the Mets are playing
and it's all tied at 1 but the bases are
loaded in the 8th inning and the Mets
are gonna take the lead right there two
runs score 3 2 1 now got a limit the
damage because you still got people on
base this one's brought to you by our
friends at Roosevelt shirts called the
bullpen bring in the new guy oh my god
why are you running so fast you're
clearly not in shape to do that real
Muto's like Jesus Christ and this
[ __ ] again dammit now he's like
thinks it's a joke ha ha ha see how fast
that is around it I'm kinda out of
breath NIH's like yeah man we saw it we
don't like it can't catch his breath on
the mound because he gassed himself by
running in when he's not in shape to do
that trying to catch his breath he's
about to pitch like now ok step off
still trying to catch his breath what
did what an idiot
honestly this kind of makes me mad
you're a professional athlete has to do
a fake pickoff because he's still trying
to catch his breath ques what's your
deal man
you're not like a 7 year old coming out
of the bullpen excited to get snacks
after the game first pitch is a ball 91
now it's one out still trying to catch
his breath 1o pitch to Todd Frazier and
he ropes that for a three-run home run
and the game is blown open and he is is
like ok yeah it's not funny anymore I
get it now he walks off slowly gonna go
catch his breath and shower after that
long workout and they bring in another
pitcher who's normal and jogs in a nice
pace as they wait for him what an
atrocious outing and kind of just bad
for the Hughes brand you kind of just
look like such a dumb dumb dummy and I
don't like being mean to people but hard
to argue with this one this was brought
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