NewsRoss pitches in for Florida 'pen
Outfielder tosses scoreless ninth in Marlins' loss
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com
04/26/09 4:47 PM ET
MIAMI -- He threw strikes, had the support of the crowd and did something no one else in the Marlins' bullpen was able to do this weekend -- keep the Phillies scoreless in the ninth inning.Cody Ross -- yes, the Marlins outfielder -- provided some relief for the overused bullpen on Sunday, tossing a scoreless inning in Florida's 13-2 loss to Philadelphia at Dolphin Stadium.
Chants of "Cody! Cody! Cody!" surfaced from those remaining of the 17,177 that witnessed the Phillies completing a three-game sweep.
Ross is the first Florida position player to take the mound since Jason Wood on June 29, 2007, who also didn't allow a run in a 12-3 loss to the Braves in Miami.
"Sometimes a little comedy, laughter can jump-start you," Marlins third baseman Wes Helms said. "When you get beaten like we did the last two nights, and today we got blown out, sometimes you lose your sense of humor in baseball. You kind of get down on yourself. You want to make this game fun. You just want to get back to that."
Earlier this season, Nick Swisher of the Yankees was called upon to pitch. Ross is the second position player in the big leagues this year to take the mound.
Because of the rarity of seeing a position player pitch, it creates a level of levity. But to Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez, the risk of injury makes it no laughing matter.
"It's all fun and giggles," Gonzalez said, "but not when you're in the dugout, and you put a position player in there, I'm telling you, it's not fun."
The Marlins' bullpen had a rough series, blowing leads in the ninth inning on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, prospect Graham Taylor made his Major League debut, and he worked only 3 2/3 innings. So the bullpen was asked to pick up 5 1/3 innings. Burke Badenhop, Hayden Penn and Kiko Calero also saw action. Rather than use anyone else in a lopsided contest, Gonzalez turned to Ross.
The left-handed-throwing right fielder made his first MLB appearance on the mound. He had a slight-turn to his delivery. He worked quickly, and he threw strikes -- 12 of his 19 pitches were over the plate. A couple of times, he found himself looking at the scoreboard to read his velocity. Ross topped out at 84 mph, which happened to be faster than Phillies veteran lefty Jamie Moyer, who was around 82 and occasionally 83 mph.
Ross pitched during his prep career, and in 1999, he had a five-inning perfect game for Carlsbad High School in New Mexico.
In 2001, when he was with the Tigers' organization, Ross was asked if he would consider pitching, and he threw in a Spring Training game. When Ross was being drafted in 1999, some teams viewed him as a pitching prospect. For a few years, he has told Gonzalez that in case of an emergency, he could pitch.
Marlins general manager Michael Hill actually scouted Ross back in 1999.
"He tells everybody that I threw 86 [mph] in high school," Ross said. "I threw harder than that."
After warming up in the bullpen along the right-field foul line at Dolphin Stadium, Phillies right fielder Jayson Werth exchanged a few friendly words with Ross.
"He was like, 'You serious?'" Ross said of his conversation with Werth. "I was like, 'I'm going to strike you out.'"
Well, he didn't. Werth singled off Ross, but he was the only Phillies baserunner in the ninth.
The first batter Ross faced was Ryan Howard. With the shift on, the slugger lifted a breaking ball high and just foul. If not for the shift, the ball likely would have been caught in foul territory down the third-base line. But staring into the sun, shortstop Hanley Ramirez couldn't get over to make the catch. As Howard returned to the batter's box, he turned to Ross, who said of his curveball: "Nasty, huh?"
The two laughed. Howard was retired on a fly ball to center.
After Werth singled, Raul Ibanez lifted a fly ball to center, and Pedro Feliz was out on a fly ball to right field.
"I didn't want to walk guys," said Ross, who threw fastballs, changeups and one breaking ball. "You just want to come in, throw strikes, and give the bullpen a break."
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
