The Odyssey: Ricardo Pinto had a wild ride to pitch 4-inning save in Phillies win

Ricardo Pinto, take a bow. The Phillies pitcher had a performance for the ages tonight, pitching a 4-inning save in his first MLB appearance in five years. But that’s not even the craziest part of this story.

Ricardo Pinto had to leave his post with the Iron Pigs and drive down from New York to pitch in the game, and didn’t even get to the stadium until the fourth inning:

The Phillies sent a car at noon for Ricardo Pinto, who was in Rochester, N.Y. with the IronPigs. He got stuck in traffic and did not arrive until the fourth inning. He said hello to Rob Thomson, then went to the bullpen. He pitched four innings for the save.

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) April 3, 2024

Not exactly an ideal situation to walk into by any means. Lesser men would have gotten shelled and blamed the circumstance, but Pinto went out there and tossed his first career save while freezing his ass off.

All he needed was a quick bullpen session and he trotted out there to show everyone what Ricardo Pinto is really made of. He notched four Ks in those four innings, and sure, he let up a few runs, but the game was already well in hand, and he had diced up Reds hitters with some absurd pitches.

Ricardo Pinto’s splitter is ELITE pic.twitter.com/Oonpw5b1Mq

— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) April 3, 2024

As a team, it’s hard not to go out and hit when a previously no-name pitcher is out there flashing ridiculous stuff in a close game. And that’s exactly what the Phillies did, turning two runs into nine with Bryce Harper hitting three homers, one of which was a grand slam.

Needless to say, Pinto has cemented himself as an early fan favorite with this performance. Hopefully, we will see a lot more of him on the mound with the same results. He could be the diamond in the rough this bullpen desperately needs.

Gear up in the TLL Shop