Javier Assad grew up watching Albert Pujols play and was only a toddler when the longtime Cardinals slugger made his big-league debut.
And now, the rookie Cubs pitcher is forever linked to the future Hall of Famer in baseball history.
Assad made his own big-league debut Tuesday at Wrigley Field and became only the fourth pitcher ever to notch his first career strikeout against Pujols.
The full list, according to Baseball Reference:
"Something that I never would have imagined," said Assad — who was 3 years old when Pujols debuted in 2001 — after Tuesday's outing through Cubs interpreter Will Nadal.
"Pujols is a great player. We all know the historic player that he is."
MLB
Indeed. Pujols homered in Monday's series opener at Wrigley Field — No. 693 in his illustrious career. He's on the doorstep of becoming the fourth player ever to hit 700.
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"I never would have imagined that I would have been facing him, let alone getting that strikeout," said Assad, who threw four-plus shutout innings.
"But not just him. Yadier Molina, Nolan Arenado, I faced those guys. Those are guys that I've looked up, the guys that I've watched play throughout my life. I was just excited and happy to get that."