Not again: Zac Gallen’s warmup toss for D-backs strikes bird

Oh no.

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen was getting some warmup tosses in prior to the team’s Wednesday afternoon matchup with the Oakland Athletics, an off day for the right-hander. Given how the A’s only had 2,000 fans in attendance two nights before, it is quite the open space with a lot of room and freedom at the moment.

That is an invitation for birds and such to roam the area.

Yes, it happened again.

Zac Gallen has joined Randy Johnson in the exclusive club of…

…hitting a bird with a pitch 🤯 pic.twitter.com/7E8SuITbbh

— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) May 17, 2023

Former Diamondback and Hall of Famer Randy Johnson did this in spring training 22 years ago, long before viral moments or like, you know, the internet was a thing. You saw it on those blooper shows more than anything. Unfortunately, there is now a modern version of the freak accident.

It had to be Johnson now sharing the freak accident with Gallen, who is one of the few pitchers Arizona has had since to come close to The Big Unit’s greatness. Gallen entered Wednesday with a league-leading 0.855 WHIP and has a 2.35 ERA across nine starts and 57.1 innings. He’s tallied just eight walks across that time, compared to 70 strikeouts.

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