Kaleb Cowart will always remember his Triple-A pitching debut, the night when the Salt Lake Bees struck out a franchise-record 19 batters.
Never mind that he didn’t actually add to that total. Instead, he allowed three runs in his one inning on the mound May 20. And then his Pacific Coast League pitching record became much worse Sunday, when Tacoma torched him for six hits and five runs in two-thirds of an inning.
Cowart's experiment with pitching in his 10th year of pro baseball, after he spent parts of the previous four seasons playing third base for the Los Angeles Angels, is part of the Angels' effort to maximize their roster.