Sports

Pirates Rookie Weighs In On ‘Scumbag’ Dodgers Pitcher’s Baseball Swap Controversy

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Emmet Sheehan/Cam Devanney ball swap controversy

© Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images


Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Cam Devanney was called up to the MLB in late August. He made his big-league debut against the Boston Red Sox.

Two games later, he recorded his first hit against the Dodgers. Controversy now surrounds his noteworthy achievement.

Devanney was a 15th round draft pick in 2019 following a three-year career at Elon. As a redshirt junior, the infielder hit .335 with 10 home runs.

Devanney was drafted by the Brewers, but later had his contract selected by the Royals. While he was on the major league roster, he did not appear in a game.

In July, he was traded to the Pirates in a deal for Adam Frazier. He saw his first MLB action in Fenway Park but went 0-3 at the dish. In his second game against the Dodgers, he was 0-4. He got the monkey off his bat in his third contest.

Cam Devanney got his first hit!

The infielder hit ninth in the order on Wednesday. With one man on and two outs in the bottom of the second inning, he laced a single to left field.

Devanney finished the game 1-3. It remains his only MLB hit. The Pirates asked starting pitcher Emmet Sheehan for the baseball after the fact. The ace is now under fire.

Did Emmet Sheehan swap the ball?

Sheehan was thrown a new baseball by the umpire as the Pirates called for a brief pause in play. He appeared to swap the new ball with Cam Devanney’s game ball before tossing one of those baseballs towards the Pittsburgh dugout.

It led to immediate criticism. Was it the right ball? Was it done intentionally? If so, what was the reasoning?

Sheehan attempted to clarify after receiving backlash. He insists he didn’t know the Pirates wanted the ball. The entire situation was a misunderstanding.

“I had no idea. I liked the ball I was throwing with, so I tried to keep it. And I had no idea that was his first hit. So, I’m going to try and find Cam tomorrow and apologize and figure out a way to make it up to him. But yeah, it was completely unintentional.”

-Emmet Sheehan

Despite that explanation, the hate continued to roll in. Former big leaguer Eric Hosmer weighed in on the controversy on social media.

“Pending more information…. Another all-time scumbag move,” he wrote on X.

As others attacked Emmet Sheehan, Devanney defended the pitcher. He wasn’t overly concerned about the ‘Swapgate’ accusations.

“I’m not entirely sure what happened, I actually found out just moments ago, but I think I did get the right one.

-Cam Devanney

Devanney did his best to kill the narrative. He believes the criticism is unnecessary.

The Pirates would go onto win the game 3-0, handing Sheehan his third loss of the season.