The Dodgers used six relievers to mop up the mess that Paul Maholm left last night. One of those six was Drew Butera. Catchers often have great arms for obvious reasons, but Butera’s was so great that you have to wonder why someone hasn’t turned him into a pitcher yet.
Butera pitched the ninth. He got a 1-2 count on Christian Yelich before forcing him to line out, a 2-1 count on Ed Lucas before getting him to ground out and then he struck out Marcell Ozuna on three straight swinging strikes. One of those strikes registered at 94 on the stadium gun, but BrooksBaseball said that last pitch was 95.1 m.p.h.. Another one of those strikes was on a 74 m.p.h. breaking ball.
This is the second time Butera has pitched. He did it once in 2012 and then, as now, pitched a scoreless inning while striking out a batter. Given that he’s a career .186/.236/.273 hitter, and given how much trouble the Dodgers’ bullpen has experienced this year, well, do I need to do the math for you?