The 2025 MLB season has seen some instances where teams allow a position player to pitch in the game. It seems to have been happening more frequently this year, and former pitcher John Smoltz is tired of it.
Smoltz, who played in the majors for 21 seasons, called out MLB teams for playing so many position players on the mound this year. During his appearance on the “Flippin’ Bats Podcast,” John Smoltz called the phenomenon “embarrassing.”
“I think it’s the most embarrassing thing in anything you can do in sport. With the reality of all the smart thinking pitching, bullpenning, bullpenning, bullpenning, and we’ve had more position players pitch in baseball games than ever before… It’s the most embarrassing thing I think there is.”
“I think it’s the most embarrassing thing in all of sports”
John Smoltz on Position Players pitching in blowout games
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— Flippin’ Bats Podcast (@FlippinBatsPod) June 13, 2025
MLB changed the rule that allows position players to pitch in 2023. Three stipulations allow a position player to pitch in a game. The first being that one team must be leading the game by a minimum of 10 runs in the night inning. Another way it can happen is if one team holds a lead of at least eight runs at any moment of the game. Lastly, position players are permitted to pitch in games in extra innings, no matter the score.
Ironically enough, those rule changes were implemented as a way to decrease the chances of position players pitching in games. The 2022 season saw 132 position players appear on the mound, which was a huge leap compared to recent years.
Although that may be true, Smoltz is tired of seeing so many position players hit the mound this season. Perhaps he has a more old-school approach to the game. Pitchers should be pitchers and nothing more. That’s kind of the idea MLB had when implementing the DH rule for the NL to begin with.
Smoltz ended his baseball career with solid numbers before retiring after the 2009 season. He finished with a 3.33 ERA and 1.176 WHIP while recording 3,084 strikeouts through 3474.0 career innings pitched.
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