The Cubs got blown out by the Brewers on Thursday afternoon, falling behind 9-0 after three innings. As a result, manager Joe Maddon had outfielder Jon Jay take the mound in the top of the ninth.
Jay had never pitched before as a professional baseball player and it showed. His first pitch to Stephen Vogt registered at 57 MPH. His next pitch was even slower, 55 MPH, but he got Vogt to fly out to right field. Jay peaked at 66 MPH but managed to get Jonathan Villar to pop out in foul territory, then worked around a Domingo Santana single by getting Yadiel Rivera to line out to left field to end the inning.
Jay threw 16 pitches in total, averaging 57.2 MPH. Only four of those pitches were measured in excess of 60 MPH.
After Thursday’s 11-2 loss, the defending champion Cubs fell to 4.5 games behind the first-place Brewers. There’s a sentence I knew, before the season, that I’d be writing.