This Diamondback rookie got his first strikeout thanks to a catcher’s nuts

Good work, nuts.

Wednesday night was big for Diamondbacks rookie Slade Cecconi. The rookie made his debut for Arizona after being picked in the 2020 MLB Draft, and thanks to his catcher’s nuts he got his first strike out! Wait … what?

This had to go to review after a Diamondbacks challenge. Initially the play was ruled as hit-by-pitch, but after checking it showed that the ball struck the knob of LaMonte Wade Jr’s bat, then ricocheted into catcher Jose Hererra’s nuts. So, in simple terms this went ball-knob-nuts.

Perhaps the best part of this was the post-game quote from Hererra, who was doubled over from being hit in the beans, but still managed to keep his composure and grasp the ball betwixt his iron thighs.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like that for his first strikeout,” Herrera said with a laugh. “It was good that we got it for him. I held the ball long enough. I tried to hold it with my pants as long as I could. It was the first time in my career that something like that happened and I kept holding the ball. It was pretty special.”

“I tried to hold it with my pants as long as I could” should be enshrined as one of the great phrases in sporting history.