The Yankees are tied for first with the Red Sox in the American League East with identical 34-24 records in 2009. The two teams hold a 1.5 game lead on the second place Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees started off slow in 2009 but have come on of late with the return of  Alex Rodriguez.

The Yankees drafted Orange Lutheran High School right handed pitcher Gerrit Cole with the 28th pick in the 2008 draft. Cole did not sign with the Yankees so they received a compensation pick in the first round, which they used to draft Heathcott this year.

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The list of position players that have taken the mound in 2009 are Nick Swisher of the New York Yankees, Cody Ross of the Florida Marlins, Jonathan Van Every of the Boston Red Sox, Paul Janish of the Cincinnati Reds and Josh Wilson of the Arizona Diamondbacks. When a position player takes to the mound during a regular season game it is looked at as a very embarrassing situation for the team but some of the position players that have to pitch take their new assignment in stride.

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The first position player to grab the honors in 2009 was Swisher of the Yankees. Swisher had to pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 13th. Swisher threw one scoreless inning, 22 total pitches, and topped out at 80 MPH on the radar gun. This fad has continued to become popular over the years. There have been 107 position players to pitch in a regular season Major League game since 1979. 55 of the 107 position players to take the mound have left the hill with a 0.00 ERA like Swisher.

The Arizona Diamondbacks fired manager Bob Melvin late at night on May 7th and replaced him with Farm Director and former Major League catcher A.J. Hinch. Hinch used a position player to pitch only six games into his managerial career when Josh Wilson took the mound on May 11th when the Diamondbacks lost to the Cincinnati Reds 13-5. Wilson tossed a scoreless inning of relief in the loss.

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The position player with the most appearances on the mound right now is Aaron Miles of the Chicago Cubs. Miles made three appearances for the St. Louis Cardinals over the past two seasons. Some of the most famous position players to pitch in a Major League game during their career includes Jose Canseco, Wade Boggs, John Russell (manager of the Pirates) and Terry Francona (manager of the Red Sox). Canseco pitched for the Texas Rangers in 1993 and injured his elbow while doing so for manager Kevin Kennedy. Canseco missed the final three months of the season due to the injury.

Some may think it is embarrassing to toe the hill as a position player but others like the challenge of throwing ‘heat’ to Major League hitters since they might never get the chance to do so ever again during their career. Let’s face it folks, with the continued bashing of the baseball throughout the league more and more position players will continue to make pitching appearances for their team to save the rest of the pitching staff.