Most folks who have heard of Scott Cousins did so via his takeout slide that ended Buster Posey’s 2011 season and the subsequent threats people made to him — including Giants GM Brian Sabean — in the aftermath.
If you’ve paid more attention than most you know that Cousins has spent the past four years just barely hanging on as a major league outfielder, but actually spending far more time in the minors.
Now Cousins has a new gig: newbie pitcher. Gary Fraley reports that the Rangers have signed Cousins — who spent his spring trying to latch on as an outfielder with the Red Sox — to be a pitcher:
Cousins the outfielder is no more. He will join the extended-spring-training team in Surprise, Ariz., to start the conversion to left-handed pitcher. Cousins has never pitched in a professional game.
Cousins is 29. He last pitched when he played for the University of San Francisco in 2006. As a sophomore in 2005 he went 8–5 with a 2.64 ERA and 76 strikeouts. He won four more games and struck out 61 as a junior. Obviously he was drafted as an outfielder, but I suppose it’s never too late in life to find your true path.
