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- Francisco Mejia recorded the ugliest strikeout of the year on Wednesday night.
- After whiffing miserably, he nearly got hit where the sun doesn’t shine.
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Tampa Bay Rays catcher Francisco Mejia is off to a solid start in 2022. That didn’t stop him from getting completely embarrassed on Wednesday evening.
Mejia recorded one of the worst strikeouts that you will ever see on a baseball field and almost got hit in the beans in the process.
During Wednesday’s game against the Angels, Mejia stepped up to the plate in the top of the seventh inning against pitcher Jimmy Herget. After falling behind 1-2, the 26-year-old dug in for the fourth pitch of the at-bat.
It did not go well for him. Herget threw a slider and Mejia missed— badly.
After committing to the swing well before the slider started to cut, Mejia whiffed. Not only that, but the pitch proceeded to break so far toward the inside of the plate that he wore it on the hip.
Mejia had already swung through the pitch before it hit him, so it was a strikeout for the first out of the inning. And a painful one at that, causing him to wince in pain.
Francisco Mejia just struck out on a pitch that hit him
Maybe the ugliest strikeout of the year pic.twitter.com/0j1u4yzUw6
— MLB Errors (@mlberrors) May 12, 2022
Unfortunately for Mejia, no matter how well he hits this year, or how deep the Rays go into the postseason, this moment will stick with him. It was such a tough look.
Fortunately, Mejia’s day wasn’t totally ruined. Despite his 0-4 day at the plate, Tampa Bay went on to win. Could’ve been worse, I guess.