The Phoenix Suns rookies visited their downtown neighbors on Tuesday night as Cam Johnson, Ty Jerome and Jalen Lecque each threw out the first pitch at the Arizona Diamondbacks game. The three took their talents from the court to the diamond as a friendly competition between who could throw the best pitch began to brew during pre-game.
Prior to the players taking the mound, each rookie made a prediction about who would take home the bragging rights.
JOHNSON: “I have no idea how Ty and Jalen throw…If I were to make a prediction, I would go with myself.”
JEROME: “I have no idea what Jalen’s going to do. I could see him throwing a good pitch and I could see him throwing it way to the top of the stadium. So, I don’t know. I would say between me or Jalen, probably.”
LECQUE: “I’m very confident in my performance. It’s just a great opportunity being here and I’m going to show my skills.”
Johnson and Jerome seemed to hold the advantage over Lecque entering the night as both are former baseball player, but Lecque still had faith.
JOHNSON: “I played baseball through middle school, but obviously there was a little bit of a conflict with AAU, so I had to drop it. But I probably would have kept playing had it not happened…Pitched a little bit, played a little bit of first base, played a little bit of shortstop. We’ll see if I’ve still got it.”
JEROME: “It’s been a while since I’ve played, I won’t lie to you. Since like seventh grade, eighth grade. I played shortstop and second base.”
LECQUE: “I just played so many sports when I was younger, I feel like I can at least compete in every sport. I’m not too worried.”
After some loosening of the arms on the sidelines, the three were called up to finally take the mound. Simultaneously, the rookies launched it to their respected catchers, followed by a thunderous applause from the Phoenix crowd.
Cam Johnson, Ty Jerome and Jalen Lecque Throw First Pitch at D-Backs Game
While all three at least made it to the plate, the next step was to look back at the tape. The trio definitely had some debate when reviewing the film, but the one thing that they all agreed on was that Lecque may have missed the mark.
JEROME: “We can eliminate (Lecque) on the right.”
JOHNSON: “Jalen’s gone.”
LECQUE: “It’s close. I lost.”
With Lecque officially out of the debate, it turned to the two former baseball players to settle who had the better pitch.
JOHNSON: “Mine was a strike. I’m just going to say it.
JEROME: “That’s high.”
JOHNSON: “No it’s not bro. Quit playing. Let’s zoom back out. Let’s look at the release.”
The banter continued, but ultimately the teammates came together and decided they were all proud of each other for their work on the mound.
JEROME: “The thing is, the catcher caught all of them. They were all good throws.”
JOHNSON: “The catchers were kind of close. So, if we really tried to put some heat behind it and they weren’t ready. I didn’t want to take one of them out before their big game.”
JEROME: “On top of that, we didn’t get practice. That’s like telling a baseball player to come out of nowhere and dunk a basketball.”
All three rookies showed their talent on the diamond and soon they will be transitioning back to the court. Be sure to catch a sneak peek of the trio plus the rest of the 2019-20 Suns roster on Sunday Oct. 6 for Open Practice at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Admission is free to the public.