The Guardians were outclassed by the Twins on Monday in a lopsided 20–6 defeat during which catcher David Fry came on to pitch in the sixth inning.
Fry ended up tossing four innings on the mound, and it wasn’t pretty. The 27-year-old surrendered seven runs on 10 hits and ended the game with a pitch count of 64.
After the loss, Cleveland’s official X account, formerly Twitter, tried to laugh it off with a comical post, jokingly providing an update on Fry’s pitching availability for Tuesday’s game.
“David Fry will not be available to pitch tomorrow night,” wrote the Guardians on X.
David Fry will not be available to pitch tomorrow night.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/B6q0JockRU
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 5, 2023
It’s certainly unusual for a team to wave the white flag and put a position player on the mound as early as the sixth inning, but that was the case for Fry and Cleveland on Monday.
Fry is in his first season in MLB, having been in the minors since 2015. Monday night’s outing was his second pitching appearance of the season. In his previous outing, which came back on June 30 against the Cubs, Fry retired the side in order on eight pitches. Unfortunately, he was unable to replicate that same success against Minnesota.
In any case, Fry will get a much-deserved day off on Tuesday, at least as it pertains to his pitching duties.
