A 22-pitch walk? New York Mets' Luis Guillorme makes some history in game vs. Cardinals
Justin ToscanoPORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The old adage goes something like this: You never know what you'll see on a given day at the ballpark.
On Sunday, the New York Mets' Luis Guillorme carved out a place in history — even if it won't officially count in the record books.
In a spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Guillorme worked a 22-pitch walk against St. Louis' Jordan Hicks. If this were the regular season, Guillorme would hold the record for longest at-bat since Major League Baseball began tracking pitch counts in 1988.
“It’s pretty cool," Guillorme said. "I’m just happy that I ended up with the walk because if I would’ve gotten out, that would’ve been not fun for me — all that work for nothing."
"Never seen anything like it," Mets manager Luis Rojas said.
All things Mets: Latest New York Mets news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.
The record: In 2018, San Francisco's Brandon Belt worked a 21-pitch at-bat that ended in a flyout. Before that, Houston's Ricky Gutierrez seeing 20 pitches from Bartolo Colon, who pitched for Cleveland at the time, in 1998.
Hicks is a flame-throwing righty. In the at-bat, Guillorme saw seven pitches that hit at least 100 mph. Guillorme fell behind 0-2 after the second pitch, but continued fighting. Guillorme fouled off 16 pitches, including nine in a row.
“He’s a guy that throws hard," Guillorme said. "I was just trying to get the barrel out there and put the ball in play. Really, at that point, I was trying to hit a ground ball up the middle. I wasn’t trying to do much."
Throughout the at-bat, the Mets' dugout went crazy. “Having the guys in the dugout just yelling all the time, it made it a little more fun, it made it a little bit easier just to stay in there and keep battling," Guillorme said. Along with Guillorme's teammates, the fans at Clover Park got louder and louder as the at-bat continued.
Finally, on pitch No. 22, Guillorme took ball four.
"Never seen an AB like that," Jack Flaherty, one of the Cardinals' pitchers, tweeted in the moment.
By pitch No. 8, Rojas said, the dugout began getting more into it. Many in there believed Guillorme had a full count — not a 2-2- count — and everyone laughed about that after the fact.
“It was amazing," Rojas said. "Just such a great at-bat."
What makes this even funnier: Guillorme was the first batter Hicks saw this spring. He returned to action on Sunday and Guillorme greeted him ... with a full day's work.
The Cardinals made a pitching change after the at-bat.
Of the eight longest at-bats in regular-season history, only one ended with the hitter winning the battle: In 2004, the Dodgers' Alex Cora, now Boston's manager, won an 18-pitch at-bat by homering off Matt Clement.
Guillorme, albeit in exhibition action, created another incredibly memorable spring training moment to go along with his bat catch from 2017, when he snagged a bat flying toward the Mets' dugout.
“I think the bat catch is always going to top everything, honestly, at this point," Guillorme said with a smile.
Justin Toscano is the Mets beat writer for NorthJersey.com.
Email: toscanoj@northjersey.com. Twitter: @justinctoscano
