Kyle Farmer: Meet the Newest Dodger Hero

It may as well have been the “hit” heard ’round the world, and it came off the bat of none other than…Kyle Farmer.

Wait, who?

Haven’t heard of him before last night?  That’s because Farmer was called up from AAA Oklahoma City just a few days ago and made his MLB debut last night in a thrilling come-from-behind victory against the San Francisco Giants.

Farmer has played for the Dodgers franchise since 2013 and has successfully moved his way up through the minor league system over the course of 5 seasons.  Kyle is listed as a catcher but also played both second base and third base during his tenure in the minors.  Throughout his five seasons at all minor league levels, Farmer batted .298/.350/.445/.795 (AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS) in 429 games including 216 runs scored, 226 doubles, 15 triples, 27 home runs and 249 RBI’s.  He has also stolen 20 bases and walked 112 times.

The 26-year-old was born in Atlanta, Georgia and grew up playing both football and baseball.  In fact, Kyle appeared in the movie “The Blind Side” (2009) with Sandra Bullock where he portrayed a high school quarterback in the film.  Realizing that acting wasn’t for him, he decided to pursue a career in sports.  Following high school, he attended the University of Georgia and was roommates with current teammate and All-Star pitcher, Alex Wood.

Farmer was originally drafted by the New York Yankees in the 35th round of the 2012 MLB Draft but did not sign.  The following year he was drafted again, this time by the Dodgers in the 8th round of the 2013 MLB Draft, and officially signed with the franchise where he was converted to a catcher.  Then, on July 28th, 2017 he was called up to the big leagues making his first appearance last night.

The game started out as a pitchers’ duel between Hyun-jin Ryu and Giants’ ace, Madison Bumgarner, with both pitchers throwing 7 innings and neither one allowing a run.  It wasn’t until the 8th inning when Dodgers reliever, Josh Fields, allowed a solo home run to Conor Gillaspie in the top of the 8th inning that either team scored.  The Dodgers failed to produce in the bottom half of the 8th but tied it up in the bottom of the 9th, which began with an infield hit by 37-year-old Chase Utley who immediately stole second base on the very next pitch.  With a runner now in scoring position, Yasiel Puig tied the game with a base hit up the middle.

After failing to win the game with the bases loaded later that inning, the game went into extras.  Neither team scored in the 10th but the Giants regained their lead, 2-1, on a base hit from Joe Panik in the top of the 11th to score Kelby Tomlinson.  That’s when things really began to get dramatic.

With one out in the bottom of the 11th, Corey Seager doubled to put the tying run in scoring position.  With first base open and not wanting to face Justin Turner, the Giants gambled and intentionally walked him to bring up the rookie, Kyle Farmer, who was coming up to the plate for his first MLB appearance.  Farmer fell behind early, 0-2, but battled back to bring the count to 3-2.  Here’s what happened next…

In what can only be described as a “Hollywood ending,” Farmer won the game on a two-RBI walk-off double to become the first Dodger player to record a walk-off hit in his first plate appearance since Darren Dreifort on May 27, 1994.  The Dodgers (74-31) are now 43 games over .500 for the first time since the 1962 Dodgers went 101-58 and are on pace for 114 wins.  They are also tied with the Oakland A’s for the most walk-off wins this season with 9 and have also swept teams 14 times (including every team in the NL West) – the most sweeps by any Dodger team since 1976.  The Boys in Blue also have 31 comeback wins!  To say this team is amazing would still be an understatement.

Finally, just to add salt to their wounds, the Giants are now 40-66 and trail the Dodgers by 34.5 games in the NL West.  It’s great to be a Dodger fan!

BakoBoyInBlue