Which position player should pitch next?

A position player pitching is much more common than it used to be -- not even counting Shohei Ohtani. Often, a backup or a utility player does the honors. But sometimes, it’s someone with the stature of Albert Pujols or Yadier Molina, who recently joined the ranks of greats who have starred in a cameo on the mound.

That got us thinking: Who should follow in their footsteps?

With that, we opened the floor to nine MLB.com writers and conducted a two-round draft of active players who have not pitched in an MLB game before. Some of these would-be hurlers may be longshots to see a Major League mound any time soon, but hey, we would have said the same about Pujols and Molina a couple of weeks ago.

1) Joey Votto, 1B, Reds
Everything Votto does is delightful, so who wouldn’t want to see him pitch? As a first baseman, he doesn’t get to show off his arm much, but we know he’s got a cannon from the time he trolled Cubs fans by launching a foul ball onto the roof at Wrigley Field. We just need to make sure he’s mic’d up if he ever takes the mound.

-- Thomas Harrigan

2) Aaron Judge, RF, Yankees
Judge is on an absolute tear at the plate this season. Now, we know just how intimidating he looks in the batter’s box, but imagine all 6-foot-7, 282 pounds of him standing out on the hill. Not only have we seen Judge hit triple digits from the outfield, but he’s also an extremely accurate thrower who makes hosing runners look easy. We have every reason to believe that this behemoth could reach back and light up the radar gun, and I think we’d “all rise” out of our seats to watch No. 99 try to throw 100 from the mound.

-- Brett Blueweiss

3) Juan Soto, RF, Nationals
When in doubt, pick Juan Soto. That’s only half-joking – Votto was the objectively correct answer here – but we’ve been calling Soto “the next Ted Williams” for enough years now that it would be nice to see if there was something at which he could out-do Ted. (Williams did pitch once, allowing three hits and a run across two innings in a 1940 game against Detroit.) Besides: Who wouldn’t want to see how the Soto Shuffle translates to the mound?

-- Mike Petriello

4) Jose Altuve, 2B, Astros
Altuve is famously short for a baseball player, but he’d be really short for a pitcher, especially in today’s game. Going back to 1965, there have been 12 MLB position players listed at 5-foot-6 or below, including Altuve. In that time -- after the retirement of accomplished 5-foot-6 lefty Bobby Shantz -- there have been only three pitchers matching that description: righty Richie Lewis (217 games, 1992-98), lefty Danny Herrera (131 games, 2008-11) and utility man Alexi Amarista, who got on the mound a couple of times from 2015-16.

So yes, this would be a novelty. But it would also be compelling to watch Altuve go after opposing sluggers with the same tenacity that has made him one of MLB’s top hitters over the past decade.

-- Andrew Simon

5) Alejandro Kirk, C, Blue Jays
Here are the good reasons to put Kirk on the mound: He’s a catcher, so he knows a thing or two about pitch sequencing and setting up a batter. He’s got a great eye at the plate and rarely strikes out, so he knows what batters are looking to do. Catchers tend to have simple and clean mechanics, too, so if he really tried to pitch and not just lob up potatoes to the plate, he could probably do a pretty good job.

But there’s another reason, too: Kirk is listed at 5-foot-8 and 245 pounds. For far too long, rail-thin giants have stood atop the mound and tossed in heaters. It’s time for the beefy boys to get a shot, too.

-- Michael Clair

6) Mike Trout, CF, Angels
Trout has been the best hitter on the planet for the last decade and, this year, thus far, is off to his best start ever. He somehow just keeps getting better. And I mean, who wouldn’t want to see how this generation’s best batter would do for one inning on the mound?

Sure, maybe he’d be bad, but it’d be a fun viral video to look back at years from now. And, well, what if he’s really good -- like everything else he does? His outfield throws have been clocked at 99 mph and he did throw that, you know, 18-strikeout no-hitter in high school. Ohtani and Trout dominating on both sides of the ball? The Angels would never lose again.

-- Matt Monagan

7) Aristides Aquino, RF, Reds
Aquino crushes baseballs, but he’s also quite the hurler. Earlier this season, he had a 101.6 mph assist, the sixth-hardest throw on an outfield assist tracked by Statcast (since 2015). His average max-effort arm strength in his career is above 97 mph. As hard as he can hit the ball, he can clearly uncork and throw it at high velocities, too.

It seems that Aquino’s velocity ceiling could be practically nonexistent, and it would be fun to see him challenge teammate Hunter Greene's triple-digit heat. If anyone can match Shohei Ohtani’s April 2021 feat of throwing 100-plus mph and hitting a 115.2 mph, 450-foot homer in the same inning, it’s The Punisher.

-- Sarah Langs

8) Nelson Cruz, DH, Nationals
His slow start to the 2022 season aside, the 41-year-old has been one of the game’s elite sluggers for what seems like forever, and he’s done much of this damage late in his career: He ranks fifth all time with 388 home runs since turning 30. We know he can hit roundtrippers, but can he prevent them?

After defying the passage of time at the plate for so long, the late-blooming, nap-loving Cruz, a universally liked figure in the game, could add to his legend with a showing on the mound -- and give us a few chuckles in the process.

-- Nathalie Alonso

9) Freddie Freeman, 1B, Dodgers
It's time for Freddie to get his revenge on Anthony Rizzo. Freeman has already been involved in one of the most fun position player pitching at-bats ever -- when Rizzo struck him out last year -- so let's get him on the other side of it. And Freeman is one of the friendliest baseball players around, so you know he'd have a good time out there on the mound.

-- David Adler

10) Bobby Witt Jr., SS/3B, Royals
Like father, like son? Witt's dad, Bobby Sr., won 142 games and had 1,955 strikeouts in his MLB pitching career. Let's see what Junior's got. It would just be cool to see what such an elite prospect could do as a pitcher. Witt has elite tools. He's already showed off his arm, clocking throws as high as 94.4 mph from third base. He could do it from the rubber, too.

-- David Adler

11) Francisco Lindor, SS, Mets
There are few players more fun to watch on a baseball field than Lindor. He can beat you with a home run, a dazzling play at short or speed on the bases. We’ve seen him do all of that, but we have yet to catch a glimpse of his pitch repertoire. The childlike joy with which “Mr. Smile” plays the game would make for a delightful position player pitching situation. (And how wonderful would it be if we could somehow mic him up for his first pitching appearance?)

-- Nathalie Alonso

12) Brandon Belt, 1B, Giants
Let’s get straight to the facts: Belt was a pitcher for a long time. When the Braves drafted him in 2007 out of junior college, they selected him as a pitcher. He pitched both at San Jacinto College and then at the University of Texas before focusing on his promising bat.

“I definitely miss it a little bit. I did it for so long, I thought I'd do it as a professional,” Belt told MiLB.com in 2011.

The “Captain” threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day. Now let him do it for real.

-- Sarah Langs

13) Miguel Cabrera, DH, Tigers
During his 20-year career, Cabrera has pretty much done it all. He’s reached 500 home runs. He’s topped 3,000 hits. He’s won a World Series and two AL MVPs. He even owns a Triple Crown. But there’s one special moment that has evaded him -- one task that other surefire Hall of Famers have during their illustrious careers. He hasn't pitched.

There aren't many players in the league who have more fun on the baseball diamond than Miggy … and that kind of attitude translates perfectly to a position-player pitching appearance. With the Tigers in a rebuilding phase, there might be some opportunities to get him out on the mound in the near future. He’s definitely been hinting at his interest.

-- Matt Monagan

14) Tyler O'Neill, LF, Cardinals
We’ve already seen what the incredibly muscular Michael Lorenzen can do: Back to being a full-time starter for the first time since his rookie season, he’s arguably putting up the best numbers of his career. (Sadly, the Halos don’t want two two-way players, even though he’s already pulled it off!)

So, it’s time for O’Neill -- the player with arguably the biggest biceps in the sport -- to show off what he can do on the mound. Will his tosses translate to triple-digit heat or are all those muscles solely for dingers and/or show?

(Note: He wasn’t eligible for this draft, but keep an eye on Cardinals shortstop prospect Masyn Winn, who was promoted to Double-A on Tuesday. A two-way prospect in the 2020 Draft, Winn has been clocked throwing over 96 mph to first base – that's Fernando Tatis Jr.-esque. Give it a few years, and he’s my pick.)

-- Michael Clair

15) Javier Báez, SS, Tigers
How could you not want to see “El Mago” pitch? Yes, he has a strong arm -- Statcast has clocked him as high as 94.8 mph as an infielder. But he’s the pick here mostly because you just know he would have something tricky up his sleeve. Maybe some Johnny Cueto-style delivery hijinks. Maybe a true eephus pitch or a legit knuckleball. Whatever it is, Báez seems like a guy who would bring some showmanship to the table, and isn’t that mostly what we want here?

-- Andrew Simon

16) Oneil Cruz, SS, Pirates
Cruz, currently toiling away in Triple-A, is a 6-foot-7 shortstop -- shortstop! -- who can hit a ball a Stanton-esque 122 mph. Do you not crave entertainment?

-- Mike Petriello

17) Alex Verdugo, LF, Red Sox
If I’m sure of one thing, it’s that nobody on this list wants to pitch more than Alex Verdugo. And for good reason: “Dugie” was a beast on the mound in high school, striking out more than 400 batters in 226 innings. Some rankings even had him as a top-five left-handed pitching prospect in the 2014 MLB Draft, and last year he claimed he’d be ready to be a two-way player, throwing 97 mph by 2023. His teammate, Bobby Dalbec, who himself was a two-way stud at the University of Arizona, recently told MLB Social that “Dugie” thinks he has NINE different pitches in his arsenal. A fastball in the high 90s and eight other pitches? Let’s hope Alex Cora is reading this article … because we NEED to see Alex Verdugo pitch.

-- Brett Blueweiss

18) Manny Machado, 3B, Padres
If Machado ever gets a chance to pitch, I’d be as excited to see him field his position as I would to watch him fire fastballs with his rocket arm. Pitchers usually get out of the way when there’s a popup to the infield, but nobody'd better call off Machado, who has ranged as far as the right-field corner (starting from his shifted position in shallow right) to make a catch.

-- Thomas Harrigan