I'll Be Honest, I Felt Bad For Canada's 19-Year Old Starting Pitcher Who Got SHELLED Last Night

Carl covered the actual outcome of the game here, but we have to talk about Canada's Mitch Bratt's performance last night. Bratt is a 19-YEAR OLD who took the mound for Canada last night and faced arguably a top 3 lineup in the world. I've got nothing but respect for this kid who knew he had a massive challenge in front of him and still took the mound vs the mighty USA lineup. If I was him I'd have told my manager I had a cold or pulled something, no shot I'd have gone out there to face those monsters. But he took the mound with the odds stacked against him and you gotta tip your cap for that.

Things did not go his way though. Only got 1 out, gave up 3 hits, 6 earned runs, 3 walks and his day was done. That is when we got the clip of him emotional on the mound. You watch that and you just have to feel bad for the kid. 19!!!!! 19 and he's facing Mookie Betts, Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado before he can even blink. That has to be TERRIFYING for a kid like that. 

Bratt was a fifth rounder in 2021 for Texas and hasn't pitched above Single-A. I mean that is a recipe for disaster. I don't blame Bratt for getting toasted, I blame Team Canada for throwing him out there. You want to ruin a kid's confidence and get him down on himself, you put him on the mound vs this team. At 19 I was drinking Stoli Blueberry in parking garages before Orioles games, at 19 Bratt was trying to figure out how to get Mookie and Trout out. 

Safe to say the kid was nervous! You could see it all over him. He had nothing. Didn't know where it was going and you just had to feel for him. If you were watching you knew it was going to be a short night for him, I just hope he isn't completely crushed by his outing. His night went like this….single, walk, walk, double, sac fly, walk, single. Nothing but nerves for the youngster. 

Again, nothing but props for this kid who went out there and represented his country and didn't try and hide from the big dogs. The clip of Freddie Freeman patting him on the chest was awesome too, those guys knew it was stacked against them but Bratt went out and tried it anyways. Can't help but feel bad for him as he was getting toasted by all of twitter though, tough night for the kid.