WATCH: Rays Outfielder Brett Phillips Made An Absolutely Hilarious Pitching Debut

Nobody had more fun in their MLB pitching debut than Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Brett Phillips. The 27-year-old was called in for mop-up duty on Friday after the Blue Jays jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the eight inning.

Hilarity ensued.

For starters, his bullpen warmup was incredible. Even the announcers couldn’t stifle a chuckle.

And then he got the call. It was time for Phillips to take the mound.

“That’s the approach I take when I come out of the bullpen, just ready to go,” Phillips said.

Once he toed the rubber, it was go time. He threw a 94mph heater on his first pitch, just to remind everyone that he has an 80-grade arm.

“He threw it very hard,” Rays catcher Francisco Mejía confirmed. Phillips lobbed it in from there.

Here is how Phillips looked pitching from the stretch. At one point, he dropped the ball and got called for a balk.

https://twitter.com/jgroc/status/1411142711948763137?s=20

After his first fastball, Phillips didn’t throw anything over 50mph on the gun. And it worked. Kind of.

 

Phillips allowed one run on two hits with two walks and a balk. Of his 23 pitches thrown, 12 were strikes. Here are his three recorded outs:

“July 2, 2021: where dreams became a reality,” Phillips said after his debut. “I like to think that I have like a Mariano Rivera-esque cutter, a Randy Johnson-type fastball, a repertoire that I didn’t even show last night because I didn’t have to. So when [manager Kevin Cash] asked me if I could pitch, of course.”

He better be careful or he might end up moving from the field to the bullpen!