New York Yankees reliever Zack Britton has thrown away the Zach in favor for the more inspiring baseball letter “K.”
Zach is so old and tired. The name itself, that is. Who needs an “h” when a perfectly fine baseball letter is just aching to be used?
Zack Britton doesn’t need an “h,” that’s for sure.
On Thursday, the New York Yankees lefthanded relief pitcher made the announcement that he was officially changing the spelling of his first name from Zach to Zack, to commemorate the baseball-loving letter “k.”
Breaking News: I will be going by my legal name “Zack” instead of my stage name “Zach”….. everyone continue to breath normally… #beenlivingalie #birthcertfail
— Zack Britton (@zbritton) February 7, 2019
“Breaking News: I will be going by my legal name “Zack” instead of my stage name “Zach”….. everyone continue to breathe normally… #beenlivingalie #birthcertfail”
Britton, 31, made his Bronx arrival during the 2018 campaign after spending his first seven-and-change seasons in Baltimore with the Orioles. In 25 relief appearances, the burly lefty pitched to a 2.88 ERA and a 1.160 WHIP, finishing 1-0.
Of course, he’s always enjoyed the K.
Britton struck out 21 batters in 25 innings in New York a season ago. For his career, he’s fanned 446 big-league sluggers in 541.2 total innings pitched, good enough for a 7.4 K/9 rate.
Britton isn’t the most dominant strikeout artist in the game yet gets the job done.
His most impressive play came over the course of two seasons (2015-2016). The big man fanned 153 batters in 132.2 innings while pitching to a 1.92 (2015) and 0.54 (2016) ERA. These ridiculously productive campaigns earned him is only All-Star nods with AL Cy Young consideration to boot.
At his age with the dominant stuff around him in the pen, the New York Yankees care more about outs and overall production over strikeouts. But hey, Zack Britton is sending a clear message prior to the work year commencing.
At least he didn’t go all Prince on us and change his name to the symbol K. Journalists would have had a field day with that one.
“Now pitching, number 53, K, number 53.”
