You’ll often hear pitchers and/or old-schoolers tout the importance of brushing back hitters with inside pitches to keep them off the plate.
Reds right-hander Jonathan Broxton tried that last night against Yoenis Cespedes, going way up and way in on the Red Sox outfielder. And on the very next pitch, a 95-mph fastball, Cespedes launched a mammoth two-run homer to dead center field that turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead (and victory).
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Asked afterward about the brush-back attempt, Cespedes replied via an interpreter: “A lot of times pitchers think when you get a pitch thrown high and tight on you like that, you’ll back off and get a little flustered, but that’s not how I am.”
No, no it isn’t. Thankfully.