KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Reds catcher Curt Casali greeted Ricky Karcher on the mound with a simple message after the rookie locked down a save in his big-league debut Monday.
“Congratulations,” the 34-year-old catcher said to the 25-year-old rookie pitcher. “We’ve got to work on your fastball.”
Retelling the story, Karcher added, “Couldn’t be more spot on.”
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How do you describe Ricky Karcher?
“It’s just Ricky, man,” Reds center fielder TJ Friedl said. “He’s awesome. Yeah. It’s Ricky Karcher, man.”
Karcher has two good pitches: a nasty slider that comes at a batter from a crossfire pitching motion, and a fastball that reached 98.6 mph in the Reds’ 5-4 victory over the Royals in 10 innings.
With a bullpen beat up, Karcher was the last option for manager David Bell after starter Luke Weaver was pulled in the fifth inning. The Reds were one out away from securing the victory in the ninth after taking the lead in the top half, but Salvador Perez hit a tying homer off Buck Farmer, forcing extra innings.
“I did have a moment, like, when I thought that I might go in that I, like, started to get a little bit emotional and stuff, which I thought was cool because that doesn’t happen to me a whole lot,” Karcher said. “But I’ve worked my whole life for this day. It’s awesome.”
The whole team stayed in the dugout for Ricky Karcher's postgame interview 😂 pic.twitter.com/UIiK2F5fse
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 13, 2023
He was greeted at the mound by Casali, who had never caught Karcher before.
“The first thing I told him when he got on the mound before he started: ‘Congratulations. You did it — you’re here,’” Casali said. “‘Go have some fun. Things are dicey as they are right now. Got a guy on second base, tight game. But try to enjoy it as much as you possibly can because you only get one.’”
Karcher enjoyed it, as did his teammates, who could be heard cheering, laughing and yelling in celebration in the hallway outside their clubhouse. It might be the most excited any team has been to win a game at Kauffman Stadium since the Giants in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series.
“This is what it’s supposed to feel like,” Bell said. “It’s a lot of fun, especially the way it ended. Really, the whole game it felt like even though it was a little bit more difficult than you would ever want, I felt like it was a little bit meant to be to finish that way.”
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Karcher threw 21 pitches, nine for strikes. He walked the first batter he faced, Bobby Witt Jr., putting not only the winning run on base in the 10th inning but also perhaps the fastest player in baseball, representing the winning run.
The next batter, Michael Massey, twice tried to bunt. The second attempt came on a 97.9 mph fastball that Massey thankfully got his bat in the way of — the ball was headed toward his face — fouling it off for strike two. After another ball, Massey flew out to center, and Friedl got the ball in quick enough to keep the runners at bay.
Karcher then quickly got down 3-0 to the next batter, Edward Olivares, who committed a pitch-clock violation for the first strike, watched a called strike on the next pitch, then popped out to third.
During that at-bat, the Royals pulled off a double steal, meaning a hit would likely win the game for them.
Karcher went full to Maikel Garcia, but the Royals third baseman swung at what would’ve been ball four and flew out to left fielder Stuart Fairchild, giving the Reds their major-league-best 21st come-from-behind victory.
Casali had to corral several pitches and keep them from going to the backstop to preserve the win. Casali didn’t come into the game until the ninth, replacing starter Luke Maile, who was lifted for a pinch hitter. And for someone who played just two innings in the field and didn’t have a plate appearance, Casali had about as impactful a game as anyone could.
“I’m sure I’ve had some pretty loony games back there, but just coming in, not starting the game, coming in and unfortunately giving up a game-tying homer,” Casali said. “Guy pitching his debut with a one-run lead. It was tough. I’m not going to say it was easy. Most importantly, we got the win, and I don’t want to do that again.”
The only fastballs Karcher threw for strikes were the two bunt attempts by Massey that were fouled off — and both of those were out of the zone.
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“Thankfully, we had his slider,” Casali said. “That was my first time catching him. Just trying to figure it out on the fly, and thankfully he had that slider to kind of fall back on. The fastball was Wild Thing tonight.”
Last year at Double-A Chattanooga, Karcher used The Troggs’ song “Wild Thing” as his walkout music, just like Ricky Vaughn from the movie “Major League.” His father, Rick Karcher, said the Reds asked the pitcher this week what he wanted to use as his walkout music, and Karcher noted that’s what they used in Chattanooga and it’d be fine to use again.
At Triple-A Louisville, Karcher had 34 walks and 31 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings and a 9.27 ERA — an ERA that was aided by a 10-game scoreless streak in June. During that stretch, he walked 10 batters and struck out 19 in 14 innings.
“Karch has a long way to go,” Bell said. “He has really good stuff, the kind of stuff that can get any major-league hitters out. He’ll continue to develop like a lot of players in this game. He’s got a long way to go, but it was a great way to start it out — very memorable.”
He capped it with an even more memorable moment after the game when he was interviewed by Bally Sports’ Jim Day. In the dugout, all of Karcher’s teammates stayed behind to watch the hero interview and were chanting his name.
“It’s like a movie, bro,” Karcher said. “It doesn’t even feel real, man. It’s incredible. Holy s—.”
Day cracked up. As Day showed it to other Reds players afterward, they all cracked up.
“He’s an interesting dude,” Casali said. “We love him to death.”
Karcher’s parents, Rick and Jen, drove from their home in Michigan to St. Louis on Friday, then on to Kansas City on Sunday night, each day hoping it would be the day he’d make his big-league debut. He warmed up during a game in St. Louis but hadn’t appeared in a game until Monday. When he did, he made it memorable.
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His mother, who has seen plenty in her 25 years in that capacity, smiled and simply said, “That’s just Ricky.”
(Photo of Elly De La Cruz congratulating Ricky Karcher after Monday’s win: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
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