Well, it's a good thing 7-foot-4 Purdue basketball star Zach Edey declared for the NBA draft and not the MLB.
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We are basing that opinion entirely on Edey's ceremonial first pitch ahead of the Chicago Cubs game against the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field.
Edey, the college basketball player of the year, led the Boilermakers to the NCAA championship game, where they lost to back-to-back champion UConn. He is now headed to the NBA, where his status as a pro is very much up in the air. In other words, some scouts think he'll be a difference-maker. Others think he'll be a 12th man, used only in emergency situations or garbage time.
Either way, he's going to be a first-round pick and at the absolute worst, will be making a nice salary for himself for the next several years via the big leagues.
Just not the big leagues that feature throwing a baseball, as the Cubs mascot and anyone else who saw Edey's first pitch can attest.
As the official MLB Twitter handle politely wrote, Edey's first pitch "was just a little outside."
Zach Edey's first pitch was just a little outside 😭😭
(via @watchmarquee) pic.twitter.com/m1a7xTkdh1
— MLB (@MLB) May 7, 2024
Hey, it happens. Edey actually played baseball in high school for a bit and was even a pitcher. Just not a pitcher on this day.
"Clark the Cub, who was serving as Edey's catcher, turned around to track the ball, and then stared incredulously back at Edey — as incredulous as a mascot with a fixed face can look,' the New York Post wrote. "According to Prep Baseball Ontario, Edey, a Toronto native, had a fastball between 74-76 mph in 2017, with a changeup sitting between 68-71 mph."
Not bad. Now, thankfully, he can go back to getting ready for the NBA.
