Stick to basketball, Zach Edey.
The Purdue big man was invited to throw out the first pitch at Tuesday’s Chicago Cubs game, and, well, it was not great.
Give him credit. The 7 feet, 4 inch star, rocking his No. 15 on the back of the royal blue pinstripes of the Northsiders, went to the rubber to fire off the pitch.
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NBA Draft prospect Zach Edey throws a ceremonial first pitch before the game between the Chicago Cubs and the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field on May 6, 2024 in Chicago. (Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
Clark the Cub went behind the plate, so it was not like this had much of a chance of being stopped in the dirt. However, not even Johnny Bench, Yadier Molina or Pudge Rodriguez would have done much.
Edey came out of the stretch and came set, and his form looked halfway decent. It was just the result that was rough to see.
He yanked his pitch well into the left-hander’s batters box, and it one-hopped into the brick-wall backstop.
A video during the tournament actually went viral of a high-school-aged Edey throwing a bullpen session, so it explains why his mechanics seemed alright.
Thankfully for Edey, he is a back-to-back Naismith Award winner. In those two seasons with the Boilermakers (73 games), Edey averaged 23.8 points and 12.5 rebounds.
Purdue’s Zach Edey, #15, celebrates the team’s 77-71 win over Illinois, while Illinois’ Coleman Hawkins, #33, walks off the court after an NCAA college basketball game on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in Champaign, Illinois. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
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His Boilermakers were upset by No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson in last year’s March Madness, but this year, they made it all the way to the final before losing to now back-to-back champion UConn.
It does remain to be seen where Edey will fall in next month’s NBA Draft, but if anything, his performance in this year’s NCAA Tournament certainly helped his stock.
In his six games in March Madness, he averaged 29.5 points and 14.5 rebounds, including a 40-16 line in the Elite 8, and a 37-point effort in the championship. Edey wound up scoring almost two-thirds of the Boilermakers points against UConn.
Edey figures to go in the mid- to late-first round.
NBA Draft prospect Zach Edey throws a ceremonial first pitch before the game between the Chicago Cubs and the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field on May 6, 2024 in Chicago. (Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
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He is listed as 285 pounds, but given his height, some bulking up could lead to dominance down low.
Edey will find out his fate on June 26.