The Cubs signed Jon Jay as a free agent going into the 2017 season largely because Dexter Fowler had left and they needed a center fielder. Jay had a reputation as a good fielder, though not much of a hitter,
and as a good clubhouse guy.
And Jay was just that. Good in the clubhouse. Not much of a hitter, certainly not as good as Fowler, and decent in center field.
The game in which he pitched resulted from the famous “non rain” rainout against the Brewers May 20, the game that Craig Counsell, then Milwaukee manager, claimed his players got “sunburn” on a rainy day.
The game was made up July 6 at Wrigley Field, squished into an off day for both teams. The Cubs had just split a pair with the Rays and were waiting for the Pirates to come to town for a weekend series.
And the Cubs were just flat in this game. Mike Montgomery started and allowed seven runs and didn’t get out of the third inning. The Cubs trailed 9-0 going into the bottom of the third and 11-2 after five and when the score was still that way after eight, Joe Maddon sent Jay out to throw the ninth. Jay had started the game in center field, going 1-for-3.
Jay threw a scoreless inning, allowing a two-out single. Here’s the last out of the inning, a line drive to left — on a 59 mile per hour offering. Bonus: Kyle Schwarber in left! [VIDEO].
Jay was the first Cubs position player pitcher to throw left-handed since Doug Dascenzo in the 1990s.
The Cubs didn’t score in the bottom of the ninth and lost 11-2. They would lose two of three to the Pirates and hit the All-Star break two games under .500, before going on a post-All-Star run and winning the NL Central with a 92-70 record.
Jay left the Cubs as a free agent at the end of the season and later played for the Royals, Diamondbacks, White Sox, D-backs again and Angels. He retired as a player after 2021 and since then has been a coach for the Marlins and Cardinals. The 2025 Cardinals roster simply lists him as “coach” without any specified duties.
