MLB

Why Is This Man Standing So Far Away From The Plate?

During Sunday afternoon’s Giants–Marlins game, San Francisco reliever Santiago Casilla stepped to the plate under strict orders from manager Bruce Bochy not to swing at a single pitch.

Casilla, you see, had never taken a major league at-bat before. And with the Giants ahead 5-2 in the top of the ninth, and with reliever Brian Wilson unavailable, Bochy wanted Casilla to… just stand there. If the virgin hitter Casilla swung and, say, pulled an oblique muscle, the Giants would be out a pitcher.

Basically, his job in this case was to go up there, take three strikes, come back to the dugout, then get ready to record an easy save.

Except it didn’t quite work out that way. Casilla, who was standing so far away from the plate that it apparently unnerved Marlins pitcher Jose Ceda, actually got on base on four straight balls.

This is what a bizarre (and terrible) major league at-bat looks like.