Phillies prospect tattoos Max Scherzer in rehab start originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
It’s not every day that a Double-A ballplayer gets to hit against a Cy Young winner. That’s enough of a thrill. But hitting a home run against one of the best pitchers in baseball? Now we’re talking next level stuff.
Outfielder Jhailyn Ortiz, the Phillies organization’s 11th-ranked prospect, faced off against three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer, who was making a rehab start for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, the franchise’s AA affiliate. He has been out since mid-May with an oblique injury.
His first time up, Scherzer got Ortiz to fly out to right. In the rematch, Ortiz got the upper hand.
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It was Ortiz’s 11th home run of the season, and certainly among the proudest moments of his baseball career.
That wasn’t a cheapie either. Ortiz hit one of those homers where the outfeliders do that slow jog, just to make the pitcher think it might not be hit to Neptune.
Ortiz was the final batter Scherzer faced. Probably for the best. You want Scherzer to have a little bit of confidence left after getting posterized like that.
For the record, the Mets ace has faced 207 hitters this season, between the big leagues and Tuesday night’s rehab start. He has allowed six home runs, five of them to Phillies: two to Kyle Schwarber, two to Bryce Harper, and Tuesday’s nuke to Ortiz.