Last July, the Los Angeles Dodgers made somewhat of a surprising decision by calling up Kyle Farmer from Triple-A Oklahoma City. He’d been placed on the 40-man roster the offseason prior, and began the 2017 campaign with Double-A Tulsa.
One explanation for the move was to better balance the number of relievers and bench players on the Dodgers’ active roster at the time; nine and four, respectively. And though Farmer gave the team a third catcher on the depth chart, he brought versatility with him as well.
Farmer memorably delivered a pinch-hit, walk-off double against the San Francisco Giants in his first career MLB at-bat. He stung the Dodgers’ rival with what proved to be a pinch-hit, game-winning RBI double in the 10th inning this season during an April game at AT&T Park.
On Tuesday, it was the Chicago Cubs who experienced the deflation that comes with Farmer’s knack to deliver in the clutch. With the Dodgers down to their final strike, he pulled a two-run double inside the third-base line to give them a decided lead.
While Farmer has all of 52 Major League games under his belt, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts lauded the young catcher for his ability to remain cool in the moment, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“He’s got a good pulse,” said Roberts. “He’s had some big hits for us, big spots. And you can see guys that don’t expand and have a way of locking it in.”
With the extra-base hit off Justin Wilson, Farmer improved to 6-for-16 with two doubles and four RBI as a pinch-hitter this season. He went 5-for-13 with one double and two RBI in such situations in 2017.
How long Farmer remains with the club is unknown. The Dodgers are expected to activate Chase Utley off the 10-day disabled list, which could very well mean Farmer returns to Oklahoma City.
But there’s no reason to believe he won’t again find himself in a pivotal situation for the Dodgers in the not too distant future.
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