Jefry Yan records his first big-league strikeout (and celebration) against his first hitter.
Tim Britton (he/him)
@timbritton.bsky.social
11K followers 29 following 1.7K posts
Senior writer for The Athletic covering the New York Mets.
Senior writer for The Athletic covering the New York Mets.
![[what were your thoughts when the team told you it wanted to try you as a one-inning reliever?]
"I'm grateful for the opportunity to be able to pitch in situations like that. At the same time, I made sure to tell the team that I signed as a starter and starting is something I would like to do. But I also understand my results and my stats don’t show that I necessarily deserve a starting rotation spot. Whatever position I'm put in, whatever role I'm given, I'm happy to do and will continue to do the best I can.
[do you think you'll get an opportunity to start again this season?]
"Whatever role is given to me, I'm going to throw in that role. Regardless what I say, if I say I want to be a starter, the team could tell me, 'Just look at your stats,' and I don’t have anything to say back to them. Whatever role is given to me, I'm going to continue to perform, continue to prepare and I hope to continue along this path and have a long career ahead of me.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ewtw4pptq7oz7lqrxu2txckh/bafkreicdurvdpigqrli7nzou2vb7hjab2kvzkz2yrtt3kvhm7pggzaobsq)
![[what was your reaction to the bird?]
"I don't know. I just looked down and looked around, like, 'Is anyone gonna grab this? Does anyone see this?' No one was looking at it, so I wasn’t about to stop the game for it. I was just sitting there eating it, and then someone saw it and I was like, 'Are you gonna pick this up?' They were chanting for me to pick it up. No.
[did you see it go down?]
"I don't know. I heard a thud, and I looked over. It was just down for the count.
[did you think it was like an omen?]
"Nah, I'm not superstitious, and it worked out.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ewtw4pptq7oz7lqrxu2txckh/bafkreiarrlstpeof4i3uc6y7cwnksraywe4nbie5qhvogvl35jxmbaqosq)
