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(07-01-2024, 12:42 AM)grampahol Wrote: He was an infielder while he was in the big leagues and now at 31 he's pushing knuckle balls in Daytona trying to make it back to the bigs.. https://www.mlb.com/reds/news/alex-blandino-working-his-way-back-to-mlb-as-pitcher?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage
i wouldn't mind the reds having the first knuckleball pitcher in the bullpen in a very long time..I wish him all the luck in the world..
He was a reason why I said that they should give one inning per week in Spring Training to a selected position player. There's always a blowout every week or two and it would be good to have someone ready to throw an inning or two to help the bullpen. He had a pretty good knuckleball back then so it would be interesting to see if he can improve on it to move up in the minors. I wish him luck.
He's also been a bad reference by me in here over the years. "Don't be a Blandino when we need a ground ball or a deep flyball at the very least". . . He was called upon to pinch hit two nights in a row late in the game in crucial situations. All he mustered in his two strikeouts on six total pitches was one check swing. I've never seen someone just bow down like that in competitive sports. I would have been telling my teammates and coaches in the pre-game of the 2nd game "OK, I screwed up last night, guys. Give me another shot. I promise you, I got this." and then I would have come out on the attack. Instead he was doing that "Looking for my pitch" bullshit and hanged his head both times as as he walked back to the dugout
Only users lose drugs.
:-)-~~~
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Cool story and thank you for sharing. I love the knuckleball pitchers so I wish him success for his career and a chance of hope he joins the Reds as a solid starting pitcher.