You may not have remembered Ricardo Pinto’s first stint with the Philadelphia Phillies. Heck, you may not have remembered that Pinto existed until 5:20 p.m. ET Tuesday afternoon, when the Phillies announced that he had his contract selected and would be joining the bullpen in place of the DFA’d Connor Brogdon.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson said after Tuesday’s game that the Phillies actually had Pinto get in a car in Rochester — where the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs are currently at — around noon, because they couldn’t get a plane. Pinto got caught in traffic around the Allentown area, and didn’t arrive at Citizens Bank Park until around the fourth inning of this evening’s game.
He actually missed the first of three home runs that Bryce Harper hit, but didn’t miss the opportunity to close out a win in relief of Spencer Turnbull and allow a gassed Phillies bullpen to rest.
“Yep, it’s truly been a long day,” Pinto acknowledged after the game through interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “I drove over five hours today. I got in late during the game, but my mind was ready to pitch today. So I felt ready for the opportunity.”
Pinto took down the final four innings of Tuesday’s 9-4 win over the Reds, allowing five hits and three runs, two of which were earned, while striking out four batters. It’s probably not the type of performance that will get highlighted in the Phillies 2024 video yearbook, but what he did — after a long day of travel — wasn’t lost on Thomson or Harper.
“That’s a baseball player. It’s like American Legion,” Thomson said postgame of Pinto.
Harper, who had one of the finest nights of his illustrious career, was impressed by Pinto as well.
“Obviously, him coming in and doing that for us [was huge],” Harper said. “I thought he threw the ball really well. He kept it down. The split-finger looked good. Just really good all around by him.”
A night after a bullpen meltdown, the Phillies were probably without Jeff Hoffman, José Alvarado and Matt Strahm, arguably their three best relievers, because they had pitched on consecutive days. Pinto’s performance not only allowed the Phillies to give the rest of their bullpen the night off, but it unlocked the story of one of the crazier journeys in franchise history.
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Pinto made his MLB debut with the Phillies in May of 2017. He appeared in 25 games for *Pete Mackanin’s* squad that year, pitching to a 7.89 ERA.
What, for a long time, appeared to be his final appearance with the Phillies came on Sept. 21, 2017 at Citizens Bank Park, when Philadelphia lost 5-4 to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Mark Leiter Jr. started that game for the Phillies. Pinto relieved Leiter, allowing two earned runs in 1/3 of an inning. Among those in the lineup for the Phillies on that day were Jorge Alfaro at catcher, J.P. Crawford at third base and Nick Williams in right field. Chase Utley hit sixth for the Dodgers in a victory that dropped his former squad to 61-92.
The Phillies designated Pinto for assignment in March of 2018, ultimately trading him to the Chicago White Sox organization for cash considerations. In the time between appearances with the Phillies, Pinto pitched in affiliated baseball for the White Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers organizations. He only reached the majors in Tampa, where he gave up four runs over two appearances during the 2019 season. Teams that Pinto also pitched for during the seven seasons between stints with the Phillies also included the SK Wyverns in South Korea and Rakuten Monkeys in China.
Even once Pinto returned to the Phillies organization on a minor-league deal in February, him getting another crack in the majors seemed extremely unlikely. It took a pretty insane series of events; Taijuan Walker and Luis Garcia getting injured, Spencer Turnbull having to be used out of the starting rotation, Brogdon self-destructing and a slew of other players on the 40-man roster not yet eligible to be recalled unless it was as an injury replacement because they had been optioned.
Frankly, Pinto probably was only the pick to get added to the 40-man roster and recalled because he’s likely going to be in the bullpen for just a week before Orion Kerkering returns, meaning he could have to be designated for assignment. The Phillies probably made the calculation that Pinto was less likely to be claimed on waivers — and would burn less if claimed — than other non-40 man options in the organization like Andrew Bellatti and José Ruiz.
Pinto, though, always believed he would get another opportunity in the majors. He also feels like he’s in a better place mentally than he was early in his career, and was prepared for this challenge, even after a long day in the car.
“I did think that I was going to get back here [the majors], because I never gave up on this,” Pinto said through the team interpreter.
“I feel that I’m mentally in a better position than I was before,” Pinto continued. “I did not have that maturity on the mound mentally before. So that’s something that I want to tell the young players that are in the minors, that you can control your game through the mental side of it. So it’s about getting in control of that mental side. And you can do your job by becoming better at that.”
Still only 30, Pinto very much looked in control of the mental side of things Tuesday, on a night when the Phillies badly needed someone to step up and give them length out of the bullpen.
Who knows, it’s possible that Tuesday will prove to be the best night of Pinto’s MLB career, and in a week, he’ll be back at Lehigh Valley. Either way, his return is the ultimate underdog story, one that helped the Phillies to give their bullpen much-needed rest early in the campaign.
And don’t be so sure this will be just a cup of coffee in the majors. His manager raved about his performance postgame.
“Yeah, you know, [he showed] the ability to throw strikes,” Thomson said. “The last time he pitched here was six years ago, and you come in here and do what he did and throw strikes and keep us in the ballgame. And then we got some separation and [he just] kept pitching. That was huge for us.”
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