Admittedly, the headline is misleading. Ryan LaMarre is NOT a pitcher, but that didn’t stop manager Paul Molitor from putting the outfielder on the mound for the second time in his career.
The Minnesota Twins were down 12-1 on Monday. Molitor did not want to wear out his bullpen late in a game the Twins were completely out of, so he turned to Ryan LaMarre; who had scored the Twins only run. LaMarre has pitched in one big-league inning before with Boston in 2016 and held the Angels scoreless in a 21-2 loss.
On Monday, LaMarre threw five pitches, all fastballs, which topped out at 76.4MPH, according to Brooks Baseball.
Four of the five pitches were strikes, which isn’t a good thing if you’re topping out at 76MPH. LaMarre replaced Tyler Kinley in the 8th with Gary Sanchez on at first base. He forced a pop fly which was intentionally dropped, forcing a fielder’s choice out at second, and allowing Aaron Hicks reach base. The next batter, Tyler Austin, hit his fourth home run of the year to move the game to 14-1. LaMarre was charged with one of the runs; the other charged to Kinley. He then prompted Miguel Andujar to ground out to end the inning. His final line: 0.2 innings pitched, 5 pitches, 4 for strikes, 1 hit, 1 run, 1 home run, no walks, and no strikeouts. His career ERA jumps from 0.00 to 5.40. In his defense, he has only thrown 1.2 innings. Offensively, he’s off to a hot start for the Twins, hitting .421 in 19 at-bats.
LaMarre and the Twins are in New York for game 3 of a 4 game series against the Yankees tonight. Pitching probables are Lance Lynn for the Twins and the Yankees countering with Sonny Gray.