Josh VanMeter was forced to catch for the first time in 12 years. It didn’t go well

Instead of an actual catcher, the Pirates were forced to turn to their emergency catcher, second baseman Josh VanMeter. VanMeter had never caught in a professional setting before. Not in the Majors, not in the minors. In fact, the last time VanMeter caught was in high school, 12 years ago, when VanMeter was “14 or 15.”

The Pirates couldn’t score in the top of the inning, so VanMeter was entering his first ever professional catching experience in a tie ballgame. The pressure was on, and VanMeter’s inexperience showed.

The first hitter of the inning was hit by a pitch. Pitcher Wil Crowe wasn’t doing VanMeter any favors as he proceeded to throw a wild pitch. Obviously, VanMeter had a difficult time stopping it, and the runner advanced to second base. Tommy Pham walked to put two men on with nobody out. The umpire Little was definitely not helping VanMeter out. VanMeter had no idea how to frame pitches, so unless the ball was right down Broadway, Little was calling anything and everything a ball. Mike Moustakas walked. Bases were loaded for Tyler Stephenson. The first pitch of the at-bat was fouled off, right into VanMeter’s mask. You could tell that didn’t sit too well with the career utility man.