Wilmer Difo gets shelled in first ever pitching appearance originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Pirates lost to the Braves by a score of 20-1 Friday night, and usually when a game gets that out of hand, position players get a chance on the mound.
Former Nationals utility man Wilmer Difo got a shot to throw the bottom of the eighth inning, and it didn't go so well.
We're making it easier for you to find stories that matter with our new newsletter — The 4Front. Sign up here and get news that is important for you to your inbox.
Difo got through the inning, but the positives stopped there. He gave up six hits, eight earned runs and three walks. His career ERA is now 72.00.
MLB teams have adopted this strategy of having position players pitch in utter blowouts so they don't waste their actual relievers in games they have no chance of winning.
While that line of thought makes logical sense, it makes already ugly games even worse and lends itself to annoying "unwritten rules" talk.
Difo spent the first six years of his career with the Nationals and won a World Series with the franchise in 2019.
