Who was mystery pitcher who just entered Yankees vs. Tigers, immediately gave up HR?

Adam Weinrib

Feb 26, 2023; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge (99) is introduced / Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Ah, the rites of spring! Major league teams in small stadiums! Autograph-seeking kids swarming their heroes on the back fields between workouts! Mysterious pitchers entering the game despite not appearing on the massive roster sheets provided to the announcing team. Baseball is BACK!

Yankees fans watching the team's spring training battle with the Detroit Tigers in primetime on Monday night were given a preseason treat, as Luis Severino departed the action early in the third inning.

In relief of Severino, following a rocky few innings, Yankees manager Aaron Boone turned to...he turned...to...OK, who is this guy?

Wearing No. 57 and rocking a sweet mustache, the pitcher strode confidently to the rubber, but Yankees announcer Michael Kay and color commentator Jeff Nelson couldn't make heads or tails of what they were witnessing. Their roster sheet didn't have a pitcher who wore that number marked down. Late promotion from the minor-league camp? Fan who won a contest? Tampa resident Tom Brady trying on a new career path?

By the time Kay and Nelson could get it right, the hurler had already allowed a two-run homer.

The Yankees just brought in a pitcher who isn’t on the roster. He gave up a two-run bomb. Ladies and gentlemen, No. 57! pic.twitter.com/f512x9sMNu
— Yanks Go Yard (@YanksGoYardFS) February 28, 2023

Yankees pitcher Aaron McGarity enters spring training game, confuses Michael Kay

Turns out, the pitcher was Virginia Tech alum Aaron McGarity, who was selected in the 15th round back in 2017. In 15.2 innings last season with Double-A Somerset, the deceptive right-hander whiffed 24 men and maintained a 2.30 ERA. He certainly deserved better than the booth's outright confusion, but then again, he may have been somewhat at fault.

As Kay continued, their official roster showed a position player from minor-league camp wearing No. 57. At the time of McGarity's entrance, that player was reportedly in the dugout ... rocking a jacket. It's unclear who grabbed the wrong jersey first, but it seems somebody snagged McGarity's No. 54 before he could get a handle on it.

Truth be told, he might want to try to tell people it was a position player on the mound, considering the quality of contact made against him.

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard for 6 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast thrice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for 10 years. He was also a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.