Rays' Raley: 'It's scary' to be position player pitching
Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Luke Raley felt unnerved pitching against the Toronto Blue Jays during Tuesday's blowout loss.
"Everyone, you might think it's fun to be out there. But it's scary at the same time," Raley said postgame following a 20-1 defeat, according to Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. "I'm not a pitcher. I can leave the ball over the plate, and those guys hit the ball really hard and it can get back to the pitcher's mound real quick.
"So, I don't envy pitchers in general, and I don't envy myself being out there. But I'll do whatever the team needs me to do and keep us healthy and fresh for tomorrow to continue to win games."
Raley, who surrendered seven earned runs on eight hits over 1 2/3 innings after entering in the eighth inning, did manage to record his first career strikeout, which came against All-Star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Luke Raley bamboozles Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with a 50 mph curveball...
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 24, 2023
... and ducks out of the way just in case 😅 pic.twitter.com/VxBInVnuaH
"I was just smiling because I struck out Vlad, honestly," Raley added. "That's something I can honestly say I never thought I would do. Yeah. At least I have one strikeout in the books and we move on."
Guerrero got his revenge with a grand slam in the ninth inning:
Grand #PLAKATA 💥 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/yNRGyXWVWu
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 24, 2023