Royals 2B Nate Eaton throws absolute fuel [VIDEO]

A bevy of recent guidelines got here to main league baseball this offseason which have generated loads of curiosity. Between the larger bases, the restrictions on defensive shifts, and the pitch timer, MLB video games look loads totally different this season.

Some would argue the brand new guidelines saved the sport.

One rule change that has not acquired the identical consideration is the limitation on place gamers taking to the mound. Last season noticed 132 appearances from place gamers on the bump, not together with Shohei Ohtani. Under final season’s guidelines, place gamers may solely pitch when the groups had been separated by six runs.

The Competition Committee unanimously accepted adjustments to that rule for the 2023 MLB season. This yr, a place participant can pitch for the main staff solely when they’re main by ten runs or extra within the ninth inning. Losing groups can flip to a place participant anytime, offered they’re down by eight runs or extra.

This change ought to reduce down on the variety of occasions we see a place participant on the bump, which was a enjoyable novelty however the pleasure has worn off these moments the previous few seasons.

However, Monday evening restored a little bit of that novelty.

Down in Arlington, the Texas Rangers had been internet hosting the Kansas City Royals. Thanks to a seven-run sixth inning, the Rangers took an 11-2 lead into the underside of the eighth inning. That’s when Royals supervisor Matt Quatraro turned to second baseman Nate Eaton to pitch within the eighth.

How did Eaton fare?

Eaton pitched a scoreless eighth inning, regardless of permitting a pair of singles. He received outfielder Travis Jankowski to floor out to begin the inning, and after singles from Ezequiel Duran and Corey Seager put runners on first and second, Eaton received the second out of the inning when Brad Miller lined out to left.

That’s when outfielder Adolis Garcia got here to the plate, and Eaton began to convey the warmth. The infielder managed to strike Garcia out after falling right into a 3-1 gap within the rely, and he received the strikeout by pushing into the 90s together with his fastball:

Perhaps this reduction stint mustn’t have been a shock. The Royals drafted Eaton within the twenty first spherical of the 2018 MLB draft, and on the time of the decide, they considered him as maybe a catcher, a place he didn’t play in faculty at VMI however did play in highschool.

As Eaton labored his approach by low Class A, he noticed time within the outfield in addition to the infield.

But whereas he by no means labored behind the plate in faculty, he did pitch throughout his time at VMI. During 2017 in the summertime faculty Coastal Plain League, he recorded 4 saves with a 1.26 ERA, whereas putting out 16 and permitting simply six hits in 14.1 innings. During the 2017 season for VMI he made 17 pitching appearances, posting a 4.44 ERA and holding batters to a batting common of simply .212. Some groups had been even scouting him as a possible pitching prospect throughout the 2018 MLB draft.

With this sort of debut on the bump, we shouldn’t be shocked to see him again on the mound sooner somewhat than later.