He’s doing his best Shohei Ohtani impression.
David Fletcher, a former infielder for the Angels, who was teammates with the two-way Japanese superstar for six seasons, made his first career start — and fifth overall outing — as a pitcher in the minors on Tuesday.
And the results were strong.
Pitching for the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate, the Gwinnett Stripers, Fletcher tossed five innings allowing three hits, two runs and one walk while punching out six batters in a 5-2 win over Norfolk.
Fletcher, 29, featured a “dancing” knuckleball in the 62-63 mph range, per minor league reporter Jared Tims.
The knuckleball even flustered Jackson Holliday — the first overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft — who struck out on the pitch in the bottom of the third inning.
Fletcher threw 72 pitches on the night, with 60 of them being knuckleballs.
The floater generated 30 swings, 11 of which were whiffs, per Baseball Savant.
This season, Fletcher communicated to his team that he could throw a knuckleball, so he has been given a chance to pitch, per Braves reporter David O’Brien of The Athletic.
While it was Fletcher’s first start, he had made four relief appearances before Wednesday’s game, pitching to a 9.00 ERA across six innings.
Fletcher’s mound work has not stopped him as a hitter, as he sports a .248/.323/.277 slash line with 18 RBIs and five stolen bases in 37 minor league contests.
He also has picked up a pair of hits in five games with the big league Braves this season.
Across seven MLB campaigns, he’s a .276/.323/.358 hitter while appearing in games at second base, third base and shortstop.
The seven-year MLB veteran’s new venture comes after it was revealed he placed bets with the same alleged illegal bookmaker used by Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizhuhara, ESPN reported.
Fletcher, along with ex-Royals minor league shortstop Colby Schultz, allegedly went through Mathew Bowyer, who is under federal investigation over his alleged illegal gambling ring.
While Fletcher reportedly did not bet on baseball, he is being investigated by MLB over his reported gambling, ESPN reported.
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