So far on the young 2026 MLB season, the Baltimore Orioles have two wins and two losses to their name. One of those losses has been credited to their fourth game’s starting pitcher, Chris Bassitt. And at the beginning of what turned out to be a rough overall outing, Bassitt made things much worse for himself.
In the first inning of his start in their series against the Texas Rangers, Bassitt fielded a routine comebacker from Rangers first baseman Jake Burger. The play was simple: pick the ball up, throw home, cut down the run. Didn’t even have to turn. Instead, though, Bassitt delivered something closer to a bounce pass than a throw, spiking the ball well short of the plate, throwing the ball about 35 of the required 50 feet and allowing a run to easily score.
Like An Overconfident Dad Out Bowling
Bad throws happen, particularly when 50 Cent is involved. But for whatever reason, pitchers – whose job is almost exclusively about throwing the ball towards home plate – struggle to do so when they have to come off the mound first.
From a mechanical point of view, it makes some sense. Transitioning from a highly specialized, repetitive motion to an athletic, reactive and unpracticed movement is a very different for the body to do, even if it is adjacent. Just as a Formula One car would struggle to pootle around a city center, muscles trained to work at a certain tempo struggle when required to work, but not at full speed. Bassitt later explained that he struggled to get a proper grip on the ball and rushed the throw, aware of the runnerâs speed and the limited time he had to react, which makes sense – plays at the plate develop quickly, and hesitation can be just as costly as inaccuracy. He still absolutely shanked it, though, setting the tone for a poor overall night.
In 4.1 innings pitched, Bassitt gave up four runs on six hits and four walks, managing only 61 strikes on his way to 100 labored pitches. It was a difficult start with one particularly ugly moment, and it was not the ideal way to announce oneself to a new team.
Bassitt’s Path To The Orioles
Bassitt is in his first year in Baltimore, having signed a one-year, $18.5 million contract with them last month. He joined the team entering his age-37 season, having spent 11 seasons in the majors to date since being drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 16th round of the 2011 MLB Draft.
Rising quickly through the minors, Bassitt made his major league debut with the White Sox in 2014. After limited early appearances and undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2016, he was traded to the then-Oakland Athletics along with Josh Phegley, Marcus Semien and Rangel Ravelo in exchange for Jeff Samardzija and Michael Ynoa, whereupon he would go on to establish himself as a regular member of the starting rotation.
Bassitt became a full-time starter with Oakland in 2018 and remained with the team through the 2021 season; his most notable year came in 2021, when he was selected to the American League All-Star team. As a part of the Athletics’ severe cost-cutting campaign that winter, Bassitt was re-traded to the New York Mets ahead of the 2022 season in exchange for J. T. Ginn and Adam Oller; with the Mets, he made 30 starts and finished the year with a 15-9 record and a 3.42 ERA.
From there, Bassitt entered free agency, and signed a three-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays prior to the 2023 season. Across the 2023-25 seasons with Toronto, he remained a regular starter, making 30 or more starts in each year. In 2025, he recorded a 3.96 ERA over 170.1 innings with 166 strikeouts. Across his career prior to the start of this season, he held an 83â65 win-loss record with a 3.64 ERA and 1,191 strikeouts in 11 MLB seasons.
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