Former major league pitcher Collin Balester has shared his thoughts on Mets reliever Jefry Yan's unorthodox strikeout celebration. The celebration, which involves a split similar to that popularized by James Brown, has been drawing attention and raising eyebrows around baseball.
Balester noted that while some players may engage in small celebrations after striking out a batter, he has never seen anything like Yan's reaction. He suggested that the style of celebration is more commonly associated with winter leagues in Mexico and Yan's native Dominican Republic.
However, Balester also expressed concern about the potential for injury resulting from such a celebratory move. "At the end of the day, if I was the team, I would be a little nervous about him blowing out his knee jumping up like that," he said.
Balester played in the majors between 2008 and 2015 with several teams, including the Nationals, Tigers, and Reds. He expressed surprise that Yan brought this style of celebration to the major leagues, but noted that it could potentially be a factor in Yan's favor when facing hitters. "I think people are going to be trying to do too much at first to make sure they can show him up, but at some point that's going to kind of falter," he said.
Balester's comments come as the baseball world continues to discuss and debate the appropriateness of Yan's celebratory move.
NTC Report coverage is based on reporting from the original publisher.
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