From veterans to rookies, pitchers old and new, Friday saw some monumental moments. Let’s take a look at what happened during yesterday’s games.
Albert Pujols Passes Willie Mays With No. 661
Sometimes I forget that we are watching two of the greatest hitters in baseball history perform side by side with Albert Pujols and Mike Trout. While the Pujols of Anaheim is not the same hitter he was in St. Louis—a man who terrorized National League pitchers for over a decade—he is still adding on to his Hall of Fame resume with his conquest of numerous hitting records.
Pujols completed the next chapter of his story on Friday when he hit home run No. 661 to pass Willie Mays for fifth on the all-time list.
https://gfycat.com/WelcomeWaterloggedElk
This fifth-inning solo shot to left off of Wes Benjamin elevated the Angel’s lead to 3-0, but Pujols wasn’t done there. Just two innings later, he delivered another bomb, this time off Demarcus Evans.
https://gfycat.com/personaldisgustinghairstreak
Although Pujols pulled both of these blasts, don’t forget that he wasn’t afraid to drive a ball to the opposite field in his prime.
Congrats to @Angels Albert Pujols on passing Willie Mays with 661 home runs (and 662). Here's an animation of all his @mlb home runs since 2001. An incredible accomplishment! pic.twitter.com/tudmnUnOdo
— Daren Willman (@darenw) September 19, 2020
Pujols’ first multi-HR game since May 11, 2019 brought him one step closer in his chase for No. 700. Besides these home run milestones, Pujols has his eyes set on a couple other targets: he is less than 200 RBIs away from Hank Aaron’s record of 2,297.
At least he doesn’t have to worry about securing the record for most GIDPs as his 397 double plays is much higher than the second-place Cal Ripken Jr., who has a measly 350.
The 2020 Draft Class is Here
When did you realize you weren’t going to become a baseball player? If you still have this dream, keep it up! You can become the next Jim Morris!
But for me, I lost this dream with the MLB debut of Julio Urías, who was the first person younger than me to play in the majors. After that, I begrudgingly accepted that maybe I was a bit too old to suddenly start throwing 95+ MPH or hitting 400+ foot homers.
If you don’t feel old yet, maybe this will change that: yesterday, 21-year-old Garrett Crochet became the first player from the 2020 draft to pitch in the majors. And what a sparkling debut it was, evoking signs of Randy Johnson with his easy, free-wheeling ability to chuck baseballs at 100+ MPH from the left side.
https://gfycat.com/VictoriousDelectableBee
This also made Crochet the first player since Mike Leake in 2010 to play in the major after entirely skipping the minor leagues.
Rafael Marchan’s Shapeshifting Spectacle
While Crochet carved up the Reds, the 19,873rd player in MLB history, Rafael Marchan, made his own standout impression with his first home run in his second major league game.
https://gfycat.com/jubilantcreamyekaltadeta
This was also Marchan’s first ever professional blast as he went homer-less in his previous 210 career minor league games.
The Phillies won this game by a score of 8-7, and this three-run blast proved to be a big difference maker. After this game-winning performance, Marchan metamorphosed into his 2-D Paper Mario state to enjoy the rest of the game from the stands.
Rafael Marchan's cutout 😂
The Phillies had to get creative with this one. pic.twitter.com/fzHRssdsqw
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) September 19, 2020
Brock Holt’s All-Encompassing Scouting Report
Brock Holt continued his quest for positional dominance on the baseball diamond with his first ever pitching appearance during the last inning of the Nationals lopsided 14-3 loss to the Marlins. Seeing as how the Marlins didn’t know what to expect from the mysterious Holt, the Nationals kindly provided a helpful scouting report.
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) September 19, 2020
Yep, I can’t really dispute any of that.
Plesac’s Immaculate Painting of the Corners
Just how rare is an immaculate inning? There have been 303 no-hitters in baseball history, two of which happened this season. Yesterday, Zach Plesac pitched the 101st immaculate inning, the first since Will Harris‘ about a year ago.
Zach Plesac's 2nd inning? Immaculate.#OurTribe pic.twitter.com/B4CwBah2x8
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 19, 2020
The First Knuckleball of 2020 Belongs to…
Knuckleball, oh knuckleball, where hath thou been?
Since R.A. Dickey’s retirement following the 2017 season, only four players have thrown a knuckleball: Steven Wright, Ryan Feierabend, Luke Maile and Erik Kratz. The knuckleball had not appeared in 2020 until Todd Frazier’s inning of relief in the Mets’ blowout 15-2 loss to the Braves.
https://gfycat.com/constantcompleteairedaleterrier
With this dazzling pitch in his arsenal, Frazier proved to be the best Mets pitcher of the entire night, recording a 1-2-3 ninth inning with a punch out of Adam Duvall on this delicate 55-MPH floater.
Todd Frazier, 55mph Knuckleball. pic.twitter.com/4yp6Mcxxg0
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 19, 2020
It may not have been the best knuckleball I’ve ever seen, but in my eyes, each and every knuckleball is beautiful.