Very cool story. He got signed to a minor league contract after a Detroit scout found him while he was leaving the stadium.

Here's video of the single inning Hebbert pitched...

https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/11qnvbk/duque_hebbert_striking_out_juan_soto_julio/

To be fair we would sign a bag of chips to a 10m contract if it could make one batter have minor indigestion.

For casual fans/non-fans, he struck out:

Juan Soto - probably the best hitter in the MLB, famous for his control of the strike zone and low strikeout numbers.

Julio Rodriguez - 2022 rookie of the year who put up a 25 homer season.

Rafael Devers - superstar 3rd baseman for the Red Sox who just signed a 300million dollar contract

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Who is we?

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I'm excited to see if he'll do awesome for us. It's pretty typical that batters often struggle vs an unfamiliar pitcher.

Good for him

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Appreciate the context. Don’t follow baseball closely but can appreciate a kid stepping up on the biggest stage of their career and crushing.

Reminds me of McClung winning the dunk contest last month. Stepping up and smashing the big dogs.

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Damn one inning??? I figured like over at least a few, but to put all 3 of those guys away in one is cold-blooded…We’ll be seeing him on TV again in due time.

That’s a fantastic story, good luck to him.

Better Made

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Go Green

Go white

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I'd assume the Detroit Tigers

McClung wasn’t some unknown dunker. He was picked specifically for this competition because of that known skill he has. And there weren’t any big dogs in the dunk contest.

The kid that struck out those 3 Allstars wasn’t even signed by a team that has to fill a roster for a low A, high A, Double A and Triple A team.

Thank you for that link. That said it all.

Baseball fans, more than any other sport, like to use "we" when referring to the team.

I don't get it, it makes me roll my eyes.

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i think the complete opposite, American sports fans are barely fans at all, everyone seems to have second and third favourite teams. In Europe its the complete opposite, especially football (soccer). Fans in Turkey and Serbia and Romania are fucking mental for their teams. Theres a heavy lack of tribalism and tradition in American sports

Any American sport* Anyone ever I’ve heard talk about their football club always talks like they’ve been the gaffer for a year

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Holy shit 😳

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You have it wrong. There are fans in America that live and die for their teams. There are homes covered in team art, jerseys, and memorable. Cars covered in flags, bumper stickers, and even wraps on their vehicles.

The northeast is particularly involved. You'll see kids on their first day of kindergarten with t-shirts and backpacks for their teams. Bars strictly for local sports teams, and if you go to Boston you'll see team logo tattoos on every other tatted person.

We have a multitude of sports here so everyone can't love everything, but to say we don't have die hard fans is absolutely ridiculous.

Also to say we don't have traditions still alive in these communities from the birth of their teams is absurd.

In keeping with Detroit Tigers history, he will become a great pitcher then traded for two players that have 0 talent. Consistency’s that’s what Detroit Tigers strive for.

That’s so fricken cool. I love international competitions that professionals are allowed to play in. It makes for great stories like this

From all the Five Foot Niners out here, good job El Duque Dos!

Yes

Fwiw- career SO rates for each: Soto 16.8% Rodriguez 25.9% Devers 21.0%

From that, we'd expect an average pitcher to strike all three of them out about 0.9% of the time, or about a 1-in-109 chance

That’s true for MLB batters facing MLB pitchers, but it seems atypical for an unsigned 21 year old.

And then he'll win the Cy Young and World Series. (see also: all the great pitchers who left Detroit and then won the World Series)

Team USA made a 19 year old pitcher cry then teed off on his 25 year old replacement (both were A ball guys).

This 21 year old from the Nicaraguan League made Juan Soto fall over with his stuff. That ain’t typical at all. Nothing about it is typical.

That's a great baseball story

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Idk a D leaguer coming in is still pretty impressive. That’s never happened before right? As a casual viewer I wasn’t familiar with him so the story piqued my interest.

Obviously this kid can pitch and was chosen to the team for his skill. Much like mcclung was chosen for his…skill.

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Sinker slider change up?! Love that tool kit.

This was in an actual game against the very best competition in the world. The equivalent of McClung winning the dunk contest would’ve been this guy coming in and lighting up a radar gun during a practice throwing session that only backups were participating in.

They’re not the same.

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I agree, and either way, Tiger fans need something to be hopeful about.

Would it surprise you to find out that there are professional dunkers out there that would wreck any NBA player in a dunk contest, but would probably lose to a G league scrub in actual basketball? Turns out jumping really high is not all you need to be a good basketball player. They only called up McClung because thats how far the dunk contest had fallen off.

Pitchers seem to be almost a different breed of human, being able to throw a ball at unheard of speeds with absolute control.

This also isn’t the MLB so I’d argue those mega paid stars aren’t trying 100%.

They're playing in the World Baseball Classic. Team USA just lost to Mexico and was clowned by the fans. They have an all-world lineup including Trout, Goldschmidt, Betts, and Turner. This is their chance to win an actual world championship.

I would bet a lot of money that a majority of them are trying hard even though this isn't the main league they play in.

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If you don't think they were trying during an at bat, I have a bridge to sell you.

I said not 100%. Calm down everyone, Jesus. Y’all are way too literal.

It's like if Hebbert won a stuffed bear at a carnival for knocking over some milk bottles

Change up is nasty. Slow sweeping slider. What's his fastball hit?

Eh we’ll see. Once you have film on a guy his off speed stuff may not be so surprising. Plus he is 5’9”. Not the biggest pitcher. 6’2” is the mlb average at the position

It’s more like Sundiata Gaines signing a 10 day contract with the jazz and hitting a game winner buzzer beat in his first game against lebron’s team

Another Duque in the majors? Heck ya

Eat ‘em up Tigers!

Julio had played ONE year lol

Oof. I mean, you're right, but all the same.

A man has said foolish things

So, like defense in the NBA?

I too have seen the globetrotters

>Julio Rodriguez - 2022 rookie of the year who put up a 25 homer season

I don’t see any contradictions

Not a Tigers fan but I’m definitely gonna keep an eye out for him. This is good shit right here!

He was only at 89.5 during that outing, so that’ll be the main problem if he can’t get that up. Still, good minor league signing.

Us, dude.

That’s when facing pitchers from the MLB that they have tons of stats on. Not surprising that the struggled against a pitcher they have never faced.

Edit: this article title also conveniently leaves out that he gave up a double to one of the easiest players in the MLB to strike out in that same inning.

This is the equivalent of a guy that didn’t even go to college or get signed to play basketball outta HS. Getting to play in the the all star game, but this all star game is actually competitive and both sides want to win, and dropping 50 points against the best of the best.

And they are also facing others with MLB arms and scouting. I'm confident that when given the choice between "MLB pitcher who I've scouted" vs "unsigned 21 year old dude I have no scouting" every MLB batter is taking the later every single time.

Yea this also makes since and is important, there’s surely minimal or no film on him this early in the WBC, but that still shows how good his stuff is. If his stuff wasn’t good it wouldn’t matter if they havnt seen him before

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I stopped watching the dunk contest when they started jumping over Kias. Can't imagine what they are doing now

Juan Soto is an amazing talent, but you can't hit .240 for a season and claim you're the best hitter.

Soto is far from the best hitter. I personally think he’s overrated. He had like two good seasons. He’s average now

I think the point is that these guys aren't going 50%. You don't get to the majors without a crazy work ethic. This is occurring during Spring Training, where the players are getting ready for the season (so they are doing their best to get into playing shape -- dogging it doesn't help their long-term outlook). And nationality-based team sports are always stocked with patriotic players who want to win.

I think we have more people that are a fan of the sport itself than a team in particular.

Buster Douglas

That USvCanada game was hard to watch :/

His worst year, last year, he had a 145 wrc+. That means he was 45% better than an average hitter in his worst year production wise. He still had 99th or 100th percentile ratings in xWOBA, bb%, k%, and zone control metrics. His down year was mostly due to a crippling low batting average on balls in play, which should increase significantly with the shift ban this year.

Soto’s game isn’t aesthetically pleasing to many fans because walking is his main skill, but it leads to him being an incredibly productive hitter based on advanced stats.

Yes he has a good WRC+ stat but he still doesn’t wow me at all. I respect him but there are way better players than him

Batting average is an incredibly flawed metric for evaluating the productiveness of a hitter. Soto’s has a career .424 OBP which allows him to have a career 153 wrc+, meaning he’s worth 53% more than the average hitter.

Sure you can. On-base rate and slugging are so much more important to hitting, based on expected runs scored, and Soto is an on-base juggernaut. Players are purposefully swinging harder and putting up lower averages to increase their SLG, and there's a reason the whole league is doing this now. I have no doubt Soto could hit for a super high average if he wanted -- he was third in average in MLB in 2021, which is proof he has that ability.

I think Alvarez is a better hitter, but Soto is also young as hell. I think Soto has one peak season ahead of him that will blow us all away.

Stroman fuming

HDMH

He's been well above-average in all five of his seasons. In his worst offensive season, he was 43% better than the average hitter. I think he's slightly overrated -- I'll take Alvarez over him -- but he's a monster. Not sure how anyone could think he's average, to be honest.

WRC+ is literally the most accurate metric we have to measure a hitter’s production. He’s a generational talent in how well he controls the strike zone and gets in base, and he’s 24 years old. Just go to his baseball savant page and look at his percentile ratings. Other players have had better years since he joined the mlb, but few have been on the same level as him consistently.

Some MLB teams have been able to coax a few mph more out of the guys they draft or sign to the minors. The Cardinals are well-known for doing this in recent years, for example. This guy is pretty tiny for an MLB prospect, but he looks like he can add some muscle. Pitch speed is more about mechanics, anyway. We'll see!

True but I still think he’s overrated. Just wait it out

Are we seeing more sticky substances in WBC? They don’t check right?

Also mclung is not doing anything in the NBA -being a dunker is not the same as contributing and being able to hang in the NBA. this guy will be an impact player in the game of baseball.

I take it you haven’t played baseball at a high level then. It is always easier to hit off of pitchers when you know their tendencies. It’s no accident that the game is completely stat-driven.

Oh sure, he’s still young too. There’s plenty of college kids that have gotten from around that level to MLB velocity

la Flama Blanca

I wouldn’t call Soto the best hitter in the MLB right now (that’s not to say he isn’t good, he’s put up numerous all star caliber seasons before he’s even turned 25) but he’s still only 24 and has only played four (combined) full seasons. I’d say Aaron Judge is currently the best hitter in the MLB atm (because he just put up one of the best offensive seasons in MLB history, as well as multiple other all star campaigns).

I will say, Soto probably does have the best hold on the strike zone, I mean two seasons in a row with at least 135 walks is just ridiculous. With how young he is, it’s a definite possibility he becomes a truly dominating force in the MLB in the coming years.

Anyways this is just semantics and opinion lol, doesn’t really mean anything.

Go Nica! Aye mi gente!

Yes, assuming you have two players of equal skill then knowing their tendencies is obviously better.

You are arguing that random unsigned dudes should consistently strike out major league pitchers at a higher rate than guys with professional scouting and arms warranting tens of millions of dollars.

That's decent for where he's from though!

And this is one reason I love the WBC.

I refuse to believe you are actually this stupid

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Im surprised you’re still responding to me. Nothing you say will convince me otherwise

So you are saying that the Tigers found the Nicaraguan Big Time Timmy jim?

This is impressive no doubt. But it might just be because they have never seen his stuff. Baseball is a fickle game.

He had a 145 wRC+ last year...

The commenter you're replying to said "it seems atypical" which is exactly what you're saying. Just pointing out that you're agreeing with each other haha

There are a bunch of sabermetric fans that want to disagree because they HATE BA but you're right. Even his OPS wasn't anything special last year at .850 and that's with his walks boosting the hell out of it. No one is saying he probably doesn't have the best eye at the plate, but best hitter? No way. Not unless he you know, starts hitting better.

When did I make that argument? You are putting words in my mouth. I am just saying that striking out 3 and letting one of the easiest hitters in the MLB to strike out hit a double off of you is not a great indicator of how good you are.

Even using your metrics, I fail to see how Soto is "the best hitter in the game."

He's only played three full seasons (2019, 2021, 2022) and in those seasons he ranked #22, #16, and #46 in slugging percentage, respectively. On-base percentage, which is obviously Soto's biggest skill and admittedly one in which he is a beast, he ranked #7, #1, and #6. OPS - #10, #3, #15

So again I'll say - Soto is an unbelievable talent, but he is not the best hitter in the MLB. He may get there one day, but he cannot currently make stake to that claim. He's got to actually produce and show that he's consistently the best year over year, and he hasn't done that.

The stats do not back up your claims.

This year was great. Best one in a while and second best the last 15 years or so, after the Aaron Gordon and Lavine one

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How can you not love baseball

He literally just said Alvarez is a better hitter.

Thanks for pointing out the contradictory nature of his post. He did lead with "sure you can" in reference to claiming Juan Soto is the best hitter in the game, but we'll just ignore that part.

I wanna see real nba players...star players

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Well we all do. But in regards to quality this year was a step up. I’d they can keep this up, maybe stars will be inclined to participate again.

Also Lavine is an all-star caliber player and he participated. The thing is that it’s mostly the young athletic players that’ll participate, and sometimes they grow into star players and sometimes they don’t.

Was that the best in the MLB amongst hitters?

juan soto is not the best hitter in mlb

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The argument for Soto is mostly one about his otherworldly control of the zone - something that 24 year old players usually struggle with. It’s not clear cut and others have as strong of an argument, but this is on a post about an unsigned pitcher striking Soto out, and in terms of zone control Soto is the best there is.

And on top of this, if you aren't trying, it's not going to be during an at bat.

Do they dive to make the ridiculous catch? Maybe, maybe not.

Do they try and stretch the double into a triple? Maybe, maybe not.

The "easiest" part of baseball, in terms of physical effort, is hitting.

You must be a hoot at parties

I can throw an off speed pitch, an even slower off speed pitch and a wild pitch.

But the combination of everything is what makes the hitter. In 2020, he was MLB's best hitter with a wRC+ of 202. He was MLB's 3rd-best hitter in 2021. In a huge down year, he was MLB's 10th-best hitter (Statcast data had him as the 4th-best). If a hitter is 1st, 3rd, and 10th in MLB over three seasons, it's totally fair for people to say he's the best. I wouldn't, but he's among the best, at the very least. He's not gonna run a BABIP of nearly 100 points below his career numbers again.

The biggest issue with your original comment is that you brought up AVG, which hardly describes how good a hitter is. I always use this example -- would you rather have Skip Schumaker's .303 AVG in 2009 or Prince Fielder's .299? Going by AVG, you would think Schumaker was the better hitter, but Fielder was absurdly more valuable with the bat. Just a preposterous gap in their production.

He might be a flop but spending pennies on a guy who, in case works, gives you a $100 million player is a very very good bargain

He did something absolutely absurd in striking out the 3. Letting up a double can happen. Striking out the three of them in a row tho wouldn’t happen very often and probably won’t either

They’ll still have all sorts of scouting reports on any minor league player.

In addition that player was selected as a blood sacrifice to team USA in a game they weren’t hoping to win.

So, a guy with no MLB experience gave up a double to someone with MLB experience, but also struck out three MLB stars (at least one with a World Series ring)? Sounds impressive, honestly.

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This is a weird thing to get upset about

Machado is one of the easiest players in the MLB to strike out.

Yeah, I struck him out twice last week. You’re ludicrous lol.

Not sure where you're getting that from except maybe you just don't like him which is understandable. Percentage wise, he struck out more last year than he ever did, and it barely cracked 20% (source: baseball reference). Other than last year, his SO% has been in the teens.

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Yeah, but can he bat nearly .300 like Shohei? Now I want all my pitchers to hit.

>But Monday's ninth inning ultimately sold him. Hebbert, who also gave up a double to the hot-hitting Machado in his lone inning of work, used mostly low 90s sinkers, mid-80s changeups and low-90s sliders to strike out three of the best hitters in the world.

👀

Woah, relax. Let's not have a meltdown here.

The coach is the scout

Eat em up tigers eat em up!

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But...they probably are giving it 100%. Competition is competition for these guys. They aren't going to turn down their effort level just because it's not the MLB.

So wrong.

Filthy changeup

What a lucky day!

We had like 4 of them on the team in 2012 and still got swept by the Giants in the World Series. What a thrilling start to a decade of mediocrity.

Go blue!

"He has trouble with the snap"

Soto retired 0-3 😮‍💨

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Damned it, your so right!!

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RIP 🙏

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$$$$$$$$

Both recent WS appearances by the Tigers have been equally heart breaking. Much like the Detroit Lions inability to get to the Super Bowl.