First of all, credit to that woman shooting video that almost got domed by Pat's pitch. She didn't even flinch. That ball just missed her and she just stood in and brushed it off. All in the name of social media. All in the name of Instagram likes. That's dedication, that's tenacity! She can be in my social media foxhole any day of the week.
Pat Connaughton fun fact: He was a pitcher for Notre Dame and was drafted in the 4th round of the 2014 MLB draft to the Orioles. The 4th round is no joke! There are a lot of athletes that can play multiple sports, and plenty that do the basketball/baseball or football/baseball or internet blogger/baseball combo. But if baseball isn't their primary sport, they typically don't get drafted that high. The MLB draft goes on forever, there are 40 rounds I think, and sometimes teams will take a chance on a dual sport athlete late in the draft just in case they decide to play baseball at some point. But not the 4th round. If you're taking someone in the 4th round that means you're banking that that player is actually going to make a run at a baseball career at some point. The Orioles paid him a signing bonus of $428,000 on draft day, and Connaughton still decided that basketball was going to be his career path. Typically when that happens, the MLB team will try and recoup that money (see Murray, Kyler), but in this case the Orioles haven't tried to get back a dime. Meaning they're hedging that he may try to pitch again in the future*. By not taking the money back, they still have his MLB right. The more you know!
Anyway, this also sort of set the tone for a WEIRD night for Brewer pitching. Chase Anderson was a scratch, like literally, 10 minutes before first pitch because he had a cut on his pitching hand. The bizarre part is that Corbin Burnes, who was supposed to still be in San Antonio, just happened to be in town, and was activated minutes before the game stated after Anderson was instantly put on the IL. What a coinkydink! Jacob Barnes got the start and did what Jacob Barnes does, went walk/walk/3 run bomb to his first three batters and we were off and running!
They actually did grab a lead, but Burnes couldn't hold it. He tossed a scoreless 5th, but gave up 3 runs in the 6th. Spin zone: None of those three runs were the result of a home run. Progress! Counsell also announced after the game that with the signing of Gio Gonzalez, Burnes will be staying up as a reliever. This is a solid move. He was a borderline dominant reliever last season. As crucial late in the season and in the playoffs as Hader, Knebel or Jeffress. Hopefully he can settle down and rediscover that magic.
*50/50 they try and get that money back after watching that pitch last night.
PS: For all of the panic in the Brewer streets during the first month in the season, they ended April with a 17-14 record. Do you know what their record was at the end of April last season, a season that saw them win 96 games and take the division? 17-13. And of course, even though they won 4 of their last 5 going into last night, following yesterday's loss Brewer Twitter proclaimed the season essentially over. STOP TREATING EVERY BREWER GAME LIKE IT HAS THE IMPORTANCE OF AN NFL GAME.
Double PS: ^He said to himself in the mirror.
