Photo courtesy Baseball Betsy (@BaseballBetsy)
Phillies prospect Severino Gonzalez will make his Major League debut tonight as the Phillies take on the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis at 8:15. Gonzalez hails from Panama, like his new battery-mate Carlos Ruiz. There have been just 46 players in Major League baseball history from Panama, and Gonzalez will be the 47th. So, IronPigs manager Dave Brundage had a little fun with Gonzalez, who clearly would be thrilled to pitch to his fellow Panamanian.
Greg Joyce of the Easton Express Times reports the exchange Brundage and pitching coach Ray Burris had with Gonzalez the other day to go over his pitches for his next start:
"And when (Phillies catcher) Carlos Ruiz puts down the fingers, those are the pitches you're throwing, right?" Brundage said.
Right.
"So you wouldn't shake off Carlos Ruiz, would you?" Brundage asked.
"No, I'd never shake off Carlos Ruiz," Gonzalez replied.
"OK, well good," Brundage said. "Tuesday night, you'll have an opportunity to see if that holds true."
Gonzalez sat in his chair for a second trying to understand what Brundage meant, and then once he did, he started to well up.
"That's the emotional side that you love to see," Brundage said Sunday. "That was good fun."
Gonzalez has the attention of his home country. "Severino Gonzalez" is trending on Twitter:
Speaking of Twitter, follow Gonzalez on @chevitogonzalez (though you'll probably have to speak Spanish to understand).
