Brock Holt has become quite the pitcher since moving from the Boston Red Sox.
Well, he’s not exactly rotation material, but the utility man made his third career appearance on the mound when he threw an inning of relief for the Texas Rangers on Saturday. The Rangers were trailing the Oakland Athletics, 12-3, in the bottom of the eighth inning when Holt got the ball, and he allowed one hit while throwing six of 10 pitches for strikes.
Holt made history, breaking a Major League Baseball record for slowest pitch — set by the Red Sox’s Jonathan Araúz just a day earlier, according to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe.
Despite the performance, the umpires weren’t interested in checking his glove for sticky stuff.
Holt has just two other pitching appearances throughout his 10-year career, both in big losses for the Washington Nationals in 2020.
While he never pitched for Boston, he played nearly every other position during his seven years with the Red Sox. During his All-Star campaign in 2015, he appeared at every spot on the field with the exception of pitcher and catcher.
Maybe there was some untapped potential there after all.
