Major League Baseball

Padres infielder Erick Aybar makes first career pitching appearance in 9th inning of rout

Published Apr. 19, 2017 12:57 p.m. ET

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Brett Smiley

Congratulations if you had San Diego Padres infielder Erick Aybar as the next man up in your Position-Players-Pitching Pool (note: if such a pool exists, please contact me with details immediately).

On Tuesday night, the 33-year-old veteran toed the rubber in an MLB game for the first time, throwing some mid-sixties meatballs to Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Chris Hermann in the ninth inning of Arizona's 11-2 shellacking of San Diego. Watch as Aybar can't help but smile as a former teammate cracks up in the other dugout:

 

This must be a rite of passage (and a damn good one) for utilitymen in their thirties as just last week Cleveland Indians 34-year-old infielder Michael Martinez got his first pitching opportunity. Martinez threw a clean ninth inning, allowing just one hit in his debut.

Next up, Ben Zobrist?

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