"Mike Trout just hit a double... Shohei Ohtani had struck out twice" - Lance Lynn recalls his sole intentional walk decision in light of Red Sox drama
Even at 37 years old, Lance Lynn continues to prove that he has plenty of life left in his arm. The veteran starting pitcher has been solid this season for the St. Louis Cardinals, proving yet again why he has remained a consistent force in the MLB throughout his career.
Over his 13 seasons in the MLB, Lynn has seen a lot of changes to the game, including the introduction of new rules such as the pitch clock. For someone like Lynn, even though the game has continued to evolve, he has remained true to himself by continuing to challenge batters, even if they have his number at the plate.
In an episode of the hit baseball show "Foul Territory," Lynn explained that he would much rather let one of his opponents do some damage against him than put a runner on base thanks to an intentional walk.
"I'm not built like that. If you're gonna get me, you're gonna get me. I'm not just giving you one," Lynn said about intentionally walking a batter.
Lynn explained how he had only ever intentionally walked one player over the course of his long MLB career: Shohei Ohtani.
"I've only done that once in my career where I looked at the dugout and said, 'Hey, Trout just hit a double with two outs and Shohei's coming up. That's my one,'" Lynn said of the only intentional walk of his career.
Although Lynn said that it was the only time in his career that he had intentionally walked anyone, he explained how the situation called for it at the time. After striking out Ohtani twice, he was certain it would not happen a third time, so with two outs and a slim lead over the Los Angeles Angels, it only made sense.
Lance Lynn said he would never raise four fingers to walk a batter like Gerrit Cole did this weekend
The line of questioning came up in the episode after New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole stunned the MLB community by intentionally walking Boston Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers with the bases empty. Even though Devers has been dominant against Cole in his career, Lance Lynn said he would never raise his hand as the Yankees ace did.
"No chance in hell," Lynn said candidly when asked if he would raise four fingers to walk a batter.
It was certainly a surprising moment from Cole, who is coming off winning the first Cy Young Award of his career. Prior to the intentional walk, Cole had caused trouble for the Red Sox lineup. However, after putting Devers on base, things quickly fell apart. Cole gave up 7 earned runs en route to a 7-1 loss.