The Phillies put Jeff Francoeur on the mound and all hell broke loose
On the one hand, Philadelphia Phillies fans were probably bummed to lose Tuesday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles 19-3. On the other hand, they got to see outfielder Jeff Francoeur take the mound.
It’s always entertaining when a position player takes the mound, but this was something else entirely. With the Phillies down 17-3, Francoeur got the call.
After consulting with closer Jonathan Papelbon in the bullpen before entering the game, Francoeur showed off his stuff. Early on, he didn’t look all that bad.
Francoeur picked up a strikeout against Nolan Reimold to open the frame. According to PITCHf/x, Francoeur threw a 79 mph changeup for the whiff. After a groundout and a weak lineout, Francoeur escaped with a perfect inning.
In most instances, that would have been the end of Francoeur’s appearance. This, however, was not a normal appearance. Francoeur actually came out for a second inning of work.
That was the point when all hell broke loose.
The first batter of the inning got the best of Frenchy this time. Ryan Flaherty smashed an 84 mph changeup (which was probably a fastball), out to center for the solo shot. Francoeur then hit Caleb Joseph with a pitch.
Francoeur was able in induce a flyout, but then walked the next two batters, loading the bases. At this point, it would have been reasonable for the Phillies to look to replace Francoeur on the mound. Few position players toss more than one inning, and he was clearly losing steam.
The Phillies may have tried to put in a call to the bullpen, but ran into a pretty big problem.
Once the team realized what was going on, Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure started waving a white flag in the dugout in order to get the attention of the players in the bullpen. That may not have been the best way to signal for help.
Francoeur would eventually give up a sacrifice fly. After walking Nolan Reimold to load the bases again, McClure came out for a mound visit. That, also, did not go well. Second baseman Chase Utley seemed to be fairly upset with the whole situation.
Francoeur managed to induce a flyout, getting out of the inning. He threw 48 pitches during the appearance. In two innings of work, Francoeur allowed two runs on one hit and three walks. He struck out one batter and gave up one home run.
Following the game, Francoeur explained why Utley was frustrated.
Oddly, this was not the only game to feature a position player on the mound Tuesday. At the same time Francoeur was on the mound, Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Jake Elmore tossed an inning against the Washington Nationals. Infielder Nick Franklin also got a chance to pitch during the game.
To add to all the weirdness, the Nationals actually pinch hit pitcher Joe Ross against Franklin. Ross wound up popping out to third during the at-bat.
Francoeur may not have been the only position player to toss an inning Tuesday, but he was the first. Because of that, we’re comfortable blaming him for all the shenanigans that followed during the next half hour of baseball.
Using a position player on the mound during a blowout is supposed to be fun and entertaining for the fans. This appearance quickly devolved into something else entirely.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – – –
Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
