Technically, 27-year-old Dodgers right-hander Wilmer Font is not a rookie. In fact, the 6′-4′ / 265-pound La Guaira, Venezuela native is into his fourth major league season, two with the Texas Rangers (2012 and 2013) and into his second with the Dodgers (2017 and 2018). That being said, the hard-throwing right-hander has appeared in a grand total of 11 major league games and has a grand total of 12.1 innings pitched under his belt, all in relief. Of those 12.1 major league innings pitched, 5.1 of them occurred in last Monday’s 15-inning / five-hour and 46-minute marathon game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. In other words, Wilmer Font is still very much a rookie.

Thirty-one-year-old Andrew McCutchen is not.

On Saturday night, the Dodgers were involved in yet another marathon extra-inning game – this one only 14 innings and only five hours and 16 minutes long – against the hated San Francisco Giants in the (very) unfriendly confines of AT&T Park. In this one, 10-year major league veteran Andrew McCutchen absolutely smoked 12.1-innings-pitched rookie Wilmer Font, this in spite of yet another valiant effort by the young Dodgers right-hander, who suffered the eventual loss in the aforementioned 15-inning affair five days earlier.

We all know that Saturday’s game ended on an epic three-run walk-off home run by the veteran with 5,861 career plate appearances in the 1,353 career major league games in which he has played off of a kid who has faced a grand total of 24 major league batters in his 3+ seasons in the bigs … a home run that traveled 377 feet and landed in the left-center field seats just in front of a group of 500 members of the extremely popular Pantone 294 Dodgers fan group.

We all know that ‘Cutch” (as he is called) sent what was left of the initial sellout crowd of 42,308 home in an absolute frenzy. But in the simplest of terms, McCutchen (Goliath) flat out took Font (David) to school in what was arguably one of the greatest at-bats you will ever see.

McCutchen fouled off seven pitches during his epic 12-pitch at-bat on Saturday night that ended with an even more epic three-run walk-off home run. (Image courtesy of MLB.com)

By the time Font entered Saturday night’s game, which actually began at 3:05 p.m. in the afternoon, he was not only the last man standing in the Dodgers eight-man bullpen, but was also the last man on the Dodgers 25-man roster who had not yet entered the game. (Note: Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood had remained at the Dodgers hotel due to illness). Simply put, it was Wilmer Font or bust; unless, of course, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts elected to have a position player pitch, which rarely ends well. But that wasn’t necessary, as McCutchen sent Font’s 12th pitch high and deep into the (very) cool San Francisco night to hand the Dodgers their sixth loss in the eight they have played thus far this season.

This time Goliath slew David.
(AP photo)

Is it panic time? Absolutely not. There are 154 games yet to be played in the 2018 regular season.

Is a change needed? Some say no, but many more say yes.

That change – which is the same one that Dodger fans felt should have happened before the first pitch on Opening Day – is that Andrew Toles should be on the Dodgers 25-man roster instead of Joc Pederson.

Meaning no disrespect to the 25-year-old Palo Alto, California native, Pederson is 2-for-14 (.143) on the new season in the five games in which he has played; this on the heels of an atrocious spring training that saw him go 8-for-54 (.148), with one home run, three doubles, and two runs batted in.

In glaring contrast, the 25-year-old Toles went  15-for-53 (.283) this spring, with three home runs, four doubles, one triple and 10 RBI. For good measure, he also stole two bases to Joc’s one.

Although we will never know whether having Toles in Saturday’s game instead of Pederson would have made any difference, Pederson went 0-for-1, having grounded into an inning-ending 5-6-3 double play in the top of the second inning and drawing an eight-pitch walk to lead off the fifth inning before being pinch-hit for (and replaced in left field) by Kiké Hernandez in the sixth. And even though Kiké ended up going 0-for-4 as Pederson’s replacement, he was credited with an RBI when he grounded out to Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford in the sixth inning with runners on second and third.

But alas, it does no good to cry over spilled milk and Sunday is new day with a new game. But it’s going to take awhile for Dodger fans to get over veteran Andrew McCutchen’s outstanding at-bat against rookie Wilmer Font on the day that Goliath did, in fact, beat David.

Play Ball!