Bring Me the Righty: Daniel Descalso a True Utility Player

Most of what I have written about in the blog has been KBO related, but I want to try to do more regular updates (hopefully), so I will be writing a bit more about what I currently focus more on which is the St. Louis Cardinals.

Over the years, baseball has seen a number of utility players. They come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. Take Julio Franco for example. I am pretty sure he played until he was 90 years old all around the world (including the KBO) or it could have just been that he looked 90 years old at the end.

Julio Franco - Samsung Lions
2000 Teleca #72

Anyway, I'm writing a bit about a former Cardinal and current Cubs utility player, Daniel Descalso, who also has a bit of a tie to the KBO (kind of). Descalso made his MLB debut, with the St. Louis Cardinals, exactly 9 years ago to the date of this post on Sept. 18, 2010. From that time on, he spent his time playing various infield positions (primarily 2nd base), but on May 12, 2014, he got to show off his skills on the mound when he was brought in to pitch the final out of a game where the Cardinals were getting blown out by the Cubs. In that appearance, he threw 2 pitches and recorded the final out of the game.

Daniel Descalso Topps Finest RC Auto
 acquired via trade with @CardsChop on Twitter?

After the end of the 2014 season, Daniel was signed by the Colorado Rockies. During his time with the Rockies, he never got a chance to toe the rubber. I would like to think that it's due to the thin air and potential for a routine fly ball to become a moon shot in Colorado, but I could be wrong. Then, at the end of his 2 years with the Rockies, he made his way to the Arizona Diamondbacks on a 1-year deal and was later picked up for a 2nd year by them.

In his two years with the Diamondbacks, he became a more common go-to guy once the game had gotten out of hand. In 2017, he pitched in 2 games across 2 innings and kept his ERA of 0.00 intact. However, in 2018, things got a bit rocky on the mound and he got his 1st boost to his ERA by giving up 3 runs across 2 games and 3.1 innings. At the end of the 2018 season, Daniel was signed by the Cubs, the team he made his pitching debut against, on a 2-year deal.

Now, we finally get to his KBO connection as a pitcher with the Cubs in 2019. During a game against the Pittsburg Pirates on July 1, 2019, Descalso was called into pitch since the Cubs were being blown out by the Pirates. However, things didn't go so well when former KBO star Jung-ho Kang stepped into the box. Daniel put a pitch right over the plate and Kang put it right of the foul pole for a 2 run HR.

Even though he has had some shaky appearances on the mound at times, I would throw him onto the mound if we were getting blown out and a was the manager.