The Guardians’ High-A affiliate, the Lake County Captains, welcomed a new guy to the bullpen Wednesday night.
At 6-foot-1 and 202 pounds, he features a mid-90s heater and a wicked sharp slider. And he happens to be 34 years old.
Remember eight-year MLB veteran outfielder Tyler Naquin? Well, he’s back -- just in a different role. Meet Tyler Naquin, the right-handed relief pitcher.
Back with the Cleveland organization after he was selected with the 15th overall pick in 2012, Naquin spent the early portion of the summer making Rookie-level appearances in the Arizona Complex League. He posted a 5.14 ERA across 13 outings, but a pair of multirun appearances stained the overall mark -- batters hit just .170 against him, while he didn’t allow a hit in his final five outings at the level.
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It was time for a bump to the Midwest League. Naquin's return marked the first time playing at the High-A level since 2013 when he was a 22-year-outfield prospect.
Naquin worked a scoreless frame for Lake County against West Michigan in an eventual 10-9 defeat at LMCU Ballpark. He showcased that new wipeout offering -- his slider, which he got Tigers outfield prospect Seth Stephenson to chase for a strikeout for his first High-A out. He worked around a two-out walk and a subsequent wild pitch to escape the frame unscathed.
In a cosmic twist, Naquin’s first Lake County outing came less than 24 hours after Giants catcher Patrick Bailey zoomed around the bases for the first Major League walk-off inside-the-park home run since Aug. 19, 2016.
Why is that relevant? It was Naquin who delivered that fondly remembered mad dash almost nine years ago.
There’s really only one way to sum all this up, and who better than Guardians radio announcer Tom Hamilton exclaimed at the time:
“Unbelievable!”