Marlins Bring SNL Christian Yelich Look-Alike Pete Davidson to Batting Practice

The Associated Press
The Associated Press
William Bigelow

On Tuesday, the Miami Marlins, looking for some comic relief as their miserable season comes to a close, imported Christian Yelich look-alike Pete Davidson from Saturday Night Live to join them for their pregame rituals and batting practice.

The similarity between the two players was first noted online in March, followed by a back-and-forth online between Yelich and Davidson in June.

Davidson donned a Marlins jersey that matched Yelich’s in a separate locker room, then joined the Marlins on the field during batting practice.

Yelich said, “They were all telling me like, ‘Hey, your brother’s here. I’ve got two younger brothers. I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ And then I saw this guy running out in a Yelich jersey and it all kind of hit me and I remembered talking about it with the Marlins people.”

Strength and conditioning coach Ty Hill, unaware of the joke, started moving Davidson away from the team while they were stretching. Yelich laughed, “They didn’t tell a single person in the locker room. I mean, nobody knew it. And Ty didn’t know what was going on. I kind of remembered and I was trying to explain to him, ‘Hey man, it’s OK, it’s OK.'”

Davidson even joined Yelich for shagging flies. Yelich, impressed, acknowledged, “He actually caught a fly ball out there.” Davidson took a couple of hacks in the batting cage, barely tipping one pitch and eking out a soft ground ball, but the Marlins cheered and high-fived anyway.

Yelich continued, “That was pretty cool, man. They kind of told me that they were going to set it up a few months ago and I forgot. And I quickly remembered when I saw him jogging out there in my jersey. But it was funny. We kind of do look alike. He had a good time, I had a good time. And it was something different that kind of kept the guys loose.”

Second baseman Dee Gordon thought that the stunt should happen more often, as Yelich followed with a stellar performance. Gordon opined, “That was awesome. That was the best thing I’ve seen in a long time. And he goes out and gets three hits, so it worked.”

Yelich singled twice, doubled, drove in two runs, and scored twice in the 9-3 victory over the New York Mets at Citi Field.

Miami manager Dan Jennings joked, “If he can hit like Yelly, we’ll put him in the lineup. We’ll take him.”

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