It’s no secret the Boston Red Sox have struggled to begin their 2019 Major League Baseball season, but Eduardo Nuñez is trying to make the most of it.
The utility infielder pitched (!) in Boston’s ugly 15-8 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday at Chase Field, giving up a home run to Alex Avila.
Manager Alex Cora has had to use his relief pitchers early and often through the Red Sox’s first nine games, so it made sense to throw a position player in a game that was out of reach. And Nuñez didn’t hesitate when he was asked.
“Yes. Why not? That’s fun,” Nuñez said, via MassLive. “It’s not fun to be in that situation (losing) but it’s fun to pitch in the big leagues one day. So I said, ‘Yeah, I can do it.’”
Nuñez reached 85 mph, but that happened to be the pitch Avila went yard.
But the infielder didn’t shy away from the team’s rough start, saying even though he had fun pitching, the Red Sox are not where they want to be.
“We’re struggling,” Nuñez said. “We have to do a better job (at) everything, everything. … We know this is a bad start. Rough week. But it’s time to pick it up. There’s a lot of good talent here. There’s no excuse.”
Boston looks to right the ship Saturday night in its second game against the Diamondbacks.
