Now this is an odd way to record your first-ever strikeout at the MLB level.
On Wednesday, 24-year-old pitcher Slade Cecconi made his MLB debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks against the San Francisco Giants. A pretty momentous occasion, especially with the Diamondbacks in the midst of a Wild Card chase in the National League.
Arizona gave Cecconi an early 2-0 lead to work with for his first half inning against the Giants and on his first batter, something odd happened. Facing LaMonte Wade Jr. with two strikes, the ball tipped off of his bat before being caught by … catcher José Herrera’s groin.
Wade Jr. went to first on what was originally called a hit by pitch, but replay was called and the umpires ruled it to be a strikeout, thanks to the ball technically being caught by Herrera’s groin.
"I've never seen it happen where it gets caught in a guy's crotch before. I guarantee that's not in the rulebook." pic.twitter.com/Di3E8y8ROA
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 3, 2023
Definitely one of the weirder outs you’ll ever see, but congratulations to Cecconi for an eventful first strikeout of his MLB career!
