Radar Gun Hero Who Athletics Signed to Minor League Deal Struck Out the Side in His Debut
By Jerry Trotta
Nathan Patterson continues to be an inspiration to the millions of individuals out there dreaming of becoming a professional athlete literally out of the blue.
The Oakland Athletics went out of their way to sign the raw and talented arm after he went viral in July from clocking 96 MPH on the Coors Field stadium radar gun at a Rockies game.
Fast forward roughly two weeks later, and Patterson's debut for his new organization could not have gone more swimmingly. Pitching for the A's Arizona League Gold team against the Cubs' affiliate on Thursday, Patterson struck out the side...against the only three batters he faced.
3 batters, 3 swinging Ks - @npatterson_12 strikes out the side in his first career start for the Athletics. @RSRBaseball pic.twitter.com/o3O5pV2xnv
— Ty Smith (@TySmith_IU21) August 16, 2019
MiLB's Gameday box score actually claimed that the 23-year-old hurler tossed an immaculate inning -- three strikeouts on just nine pitches -- but Patterson took to Twitter shortly after the contest to confirm that he actually threw somewhere close to 20 pitches.
Lol threw 18 pitches but MiLB doesn’t track them all. Not exactly sure the approach there so yeah let’s go with 9 pitches ?? thanks for the love my man ?? https://t.co/jlboZdfTSX
— Nathan Patterson (@npatterson_12) August 16, 2019
The uplifting story surrounding the right-hander continues to feature narratives that are straight out of fairytales. We are genuinely scared, but equally intrigued, to see what he manages to accomplish in his second appearance in an A's uni.