Pitch: Mo McRae recaps season 1, episode 9

Every week, a member of the cast or crew of Fox’s Pitch — the fictional story of the first woman to play Major League Baseball — is taking EW behind the scenes. For each episode, a cast or crew member is sharing thoughts on what went down, what’s coming up, and walking us through the ins and outs of the show. This week, star Mo McRae, who plays Padres player Blip Sanders, walks us through “Scratched.”

On Blip’s reaction to finding out about Evelyn (Meagan Holder) and Will’s (B.J. Britt) restaurant plans:

It’s interesting because Evelyn is doing all of these things like having a menu made and I’m completely out of the loop. Blip was feeling hurt that they’re moving so fast and making decisions and making things tangible without even coming to him for input like, “Hey, do you like this color scheme?” Blip wasn’t included at all, and that was a big part of the problem, in addition to the fact it was not the plan that they tried to put in motion for their lives.

He’s absolutely devastated about putting off having another child. It’s one of those things where you just romanticize the future and you have this ideal scenario and you do everything in your power to provide the things required for that scenario to become tangible. Blip has done everything: He’s a provider, he’s home, he’s supportive, he’s created the perfect environment to have this additional kid. He thought his wife was in agreement with that, and he feels betrayed on some level after finding out that’s not the case after he’s held up his end of the bargain. But it’s tough, because he cares about what she cares about. She cares about this, and it affects her, and I think it’s going to have a lasting impact on our relationship. Everything contributes to the overall culture of a relationship. So, I think this definitely going to alter the way that they proceed from that point forward.

On Blip confronting Mike (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) about leaving without saying goodbye to the team:

That was a good day work. I’m like a masochist in some ways because I always enjoy those darker, heavier kinds of moments. As an actor, I like exploring those sides of myself and getting to play some of the vulnerabilities. To have two men engage in that way in a locker room is cool, because you get past a lot of the bravado, and that’s just genuine, it’s real. In the scene, a guy’s feelings are kind of hurt, and he doesn’t want to overly showcase that, but he feels the need to acknowledge it and address it. Then, it’s just an interesting moment. I think it was a cool dance there, and we both just had our respective points of view, and the two points of view collide in that scene. I definitely enjoyed it because there was some intensity.

On whether or not Blip wants to become Captain:

I think he absolutely wants to be the captain, but not now. Being the captain means you’re probably the best player on the team and/or you’re just a great leader. I think anyone who makes it to that level in their career of being a professional athlete has the desire to be great, and I think captain is just an acknowledgment of the greatness you exhibit on the field and in the locker room. It’s an honor and a privilege, and it’s a sought-after position for those reasons. I think he wants to win a championship with Mike, then Mike retires as a champion and Blip becomes the captain. That’s his ideal scenario.

On his reaction to Mike and Ginny almost kissing at the end of the episode and whether or not he’s ‘shipping them:

For me personally, as a viewer of the show, I don’t ‘ship them. Maybe it’s because I’m too much Blip now and I can’t remove myself from it, but I’m just thinking about what’s best for the team. I don’t think you should ever mix business and pleasure in that way, because chances are the relationship is going to go wrong, and then it’s going to have a negative impact on the team, which, personally, I’m not cheering for that to happen. It’s funny because as an audience member, it’s like, “This is great television! This is exactly what television is about!” It’s conflict, tension, intriguing, and dangerous. It’s everything you want from a great television moment. But, if I’m the center fielder on the team, I don’t want any part of that. I’m like, “No, stop!”

On what happens next:

The next episode is, you’ve made your bed and now you’ve got to lie in it. So, a lot of choices have been made by everyone in and through episode 9, so episode 10 is really the big cause-and-effect episode. Episode 10 is where you get to see, “Okay, you did this, so as a result you now have to deal with this.” The chickens come home to roost. If I were to tease where everything goes in one word, I’d say it’s explosive.

— As told to Chancellor Agard