Kyle Crick caught Harrison Bader by surprise with a quick pitch and they both shared a laugh about it
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To get hitters out, pitchers often try to keep hitters off balance by mixing locations and speeds or adding some deception to their delivery. Less often, they try to surprise a hitter by throwing a pitch before he is ready to take a swing.
In the 9th inning of Friday's 8-1 win over the Cardinals, Pirates pitcher Kyle Crick employed the quick pitch against Harrison Bader. Despite being caught off guard, Bader's practice swing made contact with the ball. A lucky break, except for the fact that it wound up as a dribbler right in front of the plate for an easy out:
Despite making the out, Bader was able to laugh about the crafty move from Crick. Meanwhile, Crick shrugged it off as if to say, "It was nothing."
It's good to see that Bader was able to laugh that off despite getting fooled, but you can be sure he'll be especially vigilant next time he steps into the box against Crick.