It’s not a good sign when a position player is on the mound for your favorite team.
But that’s the spot the New York Yankees found themselves in on Wednesday night. Austin Slater, an outfielder, was on the mound to take a burden from the pitching staff in a game the Yanks lost 11-1.
Two remarkable things happened.
First, Slater was the only Yankees pitcher to not be charged with allowing a run. He went 0.2 innings and kept his ERA at 0.00, unlike the five pitchers who came before him, who all allowed at least one run.
But more notable even than that: Slater threw the slowest pitch in Yankees history.
Technically, this only goes back to the Statcast era’s beginning in 2015, but it’s hard to think anyone has thrown one much slower than this.
Just how slow?
Try 36.4 miles per hour.
That sets the Yankees record by more than two MPH. Isiah Kiner-Falefa previously held the low mark at 38.5 miles per hour, according to The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner.
This was the second MLB pitching appearance of Slater’s career. He also pitched in 2021 for the Giants. There, he got just one-third of an inning, and he also wasn’t charged with a run.
So the soft-tossing Slater maintained his career ERA of 0.00. That’ll work.
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