Feb 28, 2019; Tampa, FL, USA; A detail view of Pittsburgh Pirates baseball hat, sunglasses and glove at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Tony Wolters had a horrific at-bat against New York Yankees relief pitcher Darren O’Day on Saturday.
Darren O’Day is entering the 14 season of his MLB career, and he has been known to be one of the hardest pitchers to hit against due to his sidearm windup. No one realized that more than Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Tony Wolters, who had an at-bat to forget against the veteran right-hander.
With the Yankees leading 4-3 in the top of the sixth inning of Saturday’s spring training game, Wolters attempted to get a hit off of O’Day. On a 2-2 count, Wolters swung and missed on a O’Day pitch while also managing to get hit on the inside of his left leg!
Pirates: Tony Wolters strikes out and gets hit by Darren O’Day pitch against the New York Yankees
Wolters understandably needed a bit to recollect himself before retreating to the dugout. But considering he took a swing and a miss before getting hit by the pitch, the strikeout goes to O’Day.
Through six spring training games, Wolters is slashing .125/.176/.125 while recording two hits, one RBI and three strikeouts in 16 at-bats. As for O’Day, he has recorded a 4.50 ERA, a 0.50 WHIP and four strikeouts in two innings of work. Of course, these stats are not meant to be taken too seriously since it is spring training.
Wolters would like to forget this at-bat ever existed, and understandably so. Unfortunately for him, he will be the subject of GIFs and memes for quite some time.