Royals relief pitcher had hilarious reaction to his first at-bat since high school
In their 9-6 win on Wednesday night, the Royals’ batters made Pittsburgh’s pitchers work hard.
Five Pirates pitchers combined to throw an astounding 215 pitches in the nine-inning game as the Royals had a dozen hits and drew seven walks. That patient approach filtered down to the unlikeliest of Royals batters: relief pitcher Tyler Zuber.
Because the game was in a National League ballpark, Royals pitchers batted during the two-game series.
In the eighth inning, Zuber’s spot in the lineup came up and he struck out on a 3-2 pitch against the Pirates’ Clay Holmes. Zuber didn’t take a hack at the first five pitches but he swung and missed a sinker on the sixth.
Here is the entire plate appearance:
According to Baseball Reference, Zuber never had a plate appearance in the minors or at Arkansas State. Zuber, 25, said on Twitter it’s been eight years since he last stepped in the batter’s box, so that would have been at White Hall High School.
Zuber had a funny reaction to the at-bat:
He also called it a “zero approach” to batting:
The jokes kept coming as Zuber said he hoped his nervousness didn’t show:
And he said it was his Hollywood moment:
Zuber also wasn’t sure whose bat was in his hands or whose helmet was on his head:
