San Francisco Giants Pitcher Does Something Not Done in Baseball For More than 20 Years

San Francisco Giants pitcher Sean Manaea came out of the bullpen on Monday night and did something not done in baseball for more than 20 years.

San Francisco Giants southpaw Sean Manaea came out of the bullpen on Monday night and did something that hadn't been done in baseball for more than 20 years.

The twitter account @OptaSTATS put out the nugget:

Sean Manaea of the @SFGiants is the first MLB lefty to throw 80+ pitches and strike out 8+ batters in a scoreless relief outing since Randy Johnson did it on July 19, 2001. Johnson fanned 16 in 7.0 IP in the completion of a suspended game from the previous day (July 18).

Sean Manaea of the @SFGiants is the first MLB lefty to throw 80+ pitches and strike out 8+ batters in a scoreless relief outing since Randy Johnson did it on July 19, 2001.

Johnson fanned 16 in 7.0 IP in the completion of a suspended game from the previous day (July 18).

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) May 23, 2023

Is it a niche stat? Yes. Is still a fun stat? Definitely.

It was a bullpen game for the Giants, who tasked Manaea with throwing 3.2 innings in relief. He tossed 83 pitches (48 strikes) in the performance, fanning eight and walking three.

Hopefully, this was a positive step in the right direction for the veteran, who got the win as the Giants beat the Twins 4-1. He's now 2-2 on the year but still owns a rough 6.89 ERA through 10 games. He's struck out 41 in 31.1 innings.

This is the first year in San Francisco for Manaea, who spent the first six years of his career with the Oakland Athletics and then spent 2022 with the San Diego Padres.

For his career, he's 60-52 with a 4.15 ERA. He has a lifetime WHIP of 1.24.

The Giants scored four runs in the first inning of this one, three of which came on a home run by Michael Conforto.

The two teams will play Tuesday at 7:40 p.m. ET.