David Fletcher, Alex Blandino, Brian Anderson, Ben Davis and Brett Eibner are among the names once penciled into big-league starting lineups who attempted the swerve into pitching.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s rare that one of these converts actually claws their way back to the big leagues in that new profession, however.<\/p>\n
A couple years after starting for the Braves in the World Series in the mid-\u201990s, second baseman Mark Lemke was floating knuckleballs toward the plate for an independent outfit in Little Falls, N.J.<\/p>\n
Jason Lane spent parts of six seasons in the majors as an outfielder and, after a seven-year hiatus, returned to the big leagues in 2014 for three pitching appearances (including a six-inning gem) with the San Diego Padres.<\/p>\n
Brett Phillips, a few years after delivering a walk-off hit for the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series, granted himself a one-year trial as a pitcher, first with the New York Yankees, and then with the independent Kane County Cougars. When that one-year period expired, he accepted a coaching role with the Cougars \u2014 coaching hitters, not pitchers.<\/p>\n
Still, there are success stories.<\/p>\n
Anthony Gose spent parts of five seasons as an outfielder in the majors with the Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers before switching gears. He battled command issues for years in the minors with several organizations before he broke through (again) to the big leagues with Cleveland in 2021.<\/p>\n
Gose spent mornings as a minor-league pitcher with a fishing rod in his hand, wondering if the second act was worth the trouble.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the game,\u201d he said a few years ago. \u201cI love to play. I guess I\u2019m too stupid to quit.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to bail when you throw 100 mph with your left arm. Former Cleveland teammate Adam Cimber once joked, \u201cIt was always a life-or-death situation\u201d playing catch with Gose. Scouts implored Gose to pitch when he was blowing fastballs past high school hitters, but he preferred to play every day, so he entered the draft as an outfielder. Nine years after he was drafted, he finally relented to that original advice.<\/p>\n
When the pandemic paused baseball in 2020, Gose worked at a Circle K distribution center, as a door-to-door salesman and a plumber\u2019s apprentice, and he covered the front lawns of unsuspecting targets with plastic flamingos for a company that fulfilled customers\u2019 prank requests. In between each odd job, he\u2019d throw. He traveled to Tokyo to play for Team USA in the 2020 Olympic Games and while there, he leaned on veteran pitchers David Robertson, Edwin Jackson and Scott Kazmir for advice on arm care, routines and balancing velocity with command.<\/p>\n
The last part was key; once Gose reduced his walk rate, it cleared his path to the majors. He debuted as a pitcher in September 2021, and he didn\u2019t want to take off his uniform after the game. Gose is known as a stoic guy with an icy glare, but he held back tears as he thanked Cleveland\u2019s brass in the manager\u2019s office after the game.<\/p>\n
Gose said his pitching debut was more meaningful than his actual big-league debut. The journey back was, in fact, worth the trouble.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_2109.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Naquin threw a scoreless inning in his debut with High-A Lake County in July 2025. (Photo courtesy of the Lake County Captains)<\/p>\n
Naquin was sitting in the parking lot of his buddy\u2019s gym in College Station, Texas, in January 2024, when he decided to try pitching. He and that friend, Clay Tillman, picked up their gloves and started playing catch. Naquin hadn\u2019t pitched in a competitive setting since a Texas A&M scrimmage in 2010.<\/p>\n
Last year, as he assisted the A&M coaching staff, he used their resources and leaned on superiors\u2019 expertise. Naquin\u2019s agent connected with Cleveland\u2019s front office in January 2025. Naquin was hoping the Guardians would bite, given his history with the club and their reputation for developing pitching.<\/p>\n
He regularly ranked among league leaders in outfield arm strength, even into his 30s. He had worked his way up to 96-97 mph on the mound. The Guardians dispatched area scout Brett Stevenson to watch Naquin throw a bullpen session.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst and foremost,\u201d said Stephen Osterer, Cleveland\u2019s vice president of player development, \u201cit was, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s cool.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The Guardians studied video and TrackMan data from Naquin\u2019s bullpens. They consulted with coaches who were working with him to gauge how serious he was about the pursuit. They wanted to make sure Naquin knew he wasn\u2019t going to start in the upper level of the minors, and that this would be a multi-year process.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt got above the threshold,\u201d Osterer said, \u201cof, \u2018Yeah, we have the space for him. Let\u2019s try this.\u2019 It was very interesting \u2014 and still is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naquin has connected with an array of pitchers, from Cy Young Award winners Max Scherzer and Corey Kluber to relievers Nick Goody and Hunter Strickland. He spent a few hours in Tyler, Texas, working on plyometric drills with former teammate Josh Tomlin. He has worked closely with a couple of former Cleveland pitchers, Cam Hill and Michael Peoples, who now coach in the system.<\/p>\n
Former Guardians starter Shane Bieber, now with Toronto, watched one of Naquin\u2019s first bullpens in Arizona in the spring and marveled at his athleticism on the mound. He told Naquin he wished he could move so free and easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s like, \u2018You\u2019re chasing something that I want to feel all the time,\u2019\u201d Naquin said.<\/p>\n
The feeling was mutual; Naquin wished he could summon Bieber\u2019s command. That\u2019s the key to this entire operation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s watching how well I work,\u201d Naquin said, \u201cwhile I\u2019m watching how the catcher doesn\u2019t move his glove whenever he\u2019s on the mound.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s throwing a fastball, a cutter and a changeup, and he has been workshopping something he described as a \u201cdeath ball sweeper-type thing,\u201d a pitch he lets \u201cdo what it wants to do,\u201d as long as he can repeat it. That sounds like a guy still navigating his way through a new world.<\/p>\n
The one thing he knows is he has to throw strikes. It\u2019s all he talks about. At times, it\u2019s proven challenging, as he works toward consistent mechanics on the mound. He knew he would hit a rough patch at some point. In his first eight innings for Lake County, Naquin allowed one hit and no runs. He walked four. It was rocky after that, with 14 walks and 13 earned runs across his final 8 2\/3 innings of a season that wrapped last week.<\/p>\n
He searched for routines to guide him back on track, just as he did when he endured a slump as a hitter. That can be a challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are only so many baseballs you can throw in a day,\u201d Culberson said. \u201cThere\u2019s really not much else you can do, so there\u2019s a lot of extra time. As a position player, I\u2019d get a workout in and stretch and hit the cages and go outside and do infield drills and take ground balls and fly balls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phillips has monitored Naquin from afar. There\u2019s a bit of a brotherhood, with those who have tried to make the switch rooting for those still undertaking it. He insists his input means little, but Phillips did offer Naquin, and any other hitter-turned-pitcher who may be looking, four bits of advice.<\/p>\n
1. Find the right arm care routine that\u2019s consistent with how you feel on a particular day.<\/p>\n
2. Throw strikes. Phillips said he tried to \u201cgrip it and rip,\u201d and struggled to harness his secondary stuff.<\/p>\n
3. Take defensive drills seriously because it\u2019s embarrassing as a pitcher when you mess them up. \u201cI messed them up a lot,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cCouldn\u2019t pick. Couldn\u2019t throw to bases.\u201d<\/p>\n
4. \u201cHave fun out there. Baseball is fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naquin knew when he began that he would start at the ground floor. He was pitching against teenagers at the Guardians\u2019 Arizona complex until early July, and then in front of a thousand fans against the Lansing Lugnuts, Fort Wayne TinCaps and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. He keeps dreaming about pitching in front of a capacity crowd at a big-league venue against hitters who are thinking all the thoughts he used to cycle through in the batter\u2019s box.<\/p>\n
Some days, it seems plausible. Others, he\u2019s not so sure. But he remains hopeful.<\/p>\n
He knows how absurd this journey might seem to the outside world. It\u2019s absurd to him, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrust me,\u201d he said, \u201cI wake up in downtown (Cleveland) and I\u2019m coming to Lake County to pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his mid-30s, on a Captains roster full of teammates all at least nine years younger, he knows the clock is ticking. He said if the experiment stalls, the team would probably cut ties with him before he decided to bail. That\u2019s how it ended for Culberson. That\u2019s the challenge Gose has faced in recent years, as he\u2019s bounced from the Guardians to the Mets to the Diamondbacks. That\u2019s how it ends for a lot of players in this situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a realist,\u201d Naquin said.<\/p>\n
His arm feels great, though. His mind, too. And the growth he\u2019s witnessed in one calendar year has him dreaming on those long drives or those quiet afternoons in the woods.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had a great career. I have,\u201d Naquin said. \u201cI\u2019m not saying I haven\u2019t. But there\u2019s more, I believe. And now we\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Top photo of Naquin courtesy of the Lake County Captains)<\/p>\n