Andy Green called on a minor league pitcher to get the Padres out of a rough spot Monday night.

In came Robert Stock, who threw three pitches past Cesar Puello to end the fifth inning with the bases loaded.

It wasn’t the first time Eric Hosmer had seen Stock overwhelm a batter.

Hosmer hasn’t played with or against Stock at any level of pro ball. But the Padres first baseman vividly recalls when it was he first saw Stock pitch.


Hosmer was a member of the Cooper City Diamond Kings, a travel ball team made up of 11- and 12-year-olds from South Florida. Among his teammates were future major leaguers Adrian Nieto and Deven Marrero.

The Diamond Kings had swept through that summer of 2002 with, by Hosmer’s recollection, just four losses, winning tournament after tournament.

“We were a really good team,” Hosmer said. “We were kids from all over South Florida. We win this tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y., and they invite you back for a championship week tournament. We go, and we are rolling through it. We get to the championship game, and we are playing this team from California. All they’re talking about is this kid, Robert Stock. He throws 85 mph as a 12-year-old. We’re all fired up. We’re like, ‘Nobody can throw it hard enough to get past us. It’s just going to work.’

“So we get to the stadium. There are about 5,000 people at this championship game. We’re looking around. All of a sudden we hear this pop. He’s warming up over there in front of the dugout. We’re like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ ”


The South Florida team actually touched Stock for a run in the first (on Hosmer’s RBI single) and another in the second.

“We get a couple hits off him, and he busts out this slider,” Hosmer said. “And it was something we’ve never seen before. … It was game over. I haven’t seen a little league player like him.”

Stock would pitch all six innings, hit a home run and single twice, as his West Coast Rebels won, 5-3. Hosmer was the losing pitcher, allowing three runs (one earned) in four innings.

“It’s funny, because Robert Stock, he really motivated our entire team,” said Hosmer, who would strike out and walk his final two times facing Stock that night. “We were like, ‘Next year we’re going to the national tournament, we’re going to face Robert Stock, and we’re going to beat him.’ He was really the key for a lot of us down in South Florida, whether he knew it or not, as far as getting better.”


Stock went on to play both pitcher and catcher at USC and get drafted as a catcher by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was converted to pitcher in 2012 and has since played in the Pirates and Reds organizations, as well as a season in independent ball.

Signed to a minor-league contract in December, he has allowed two runs on three hits in 3 2/3 innings this spring.

kevin.acee@sduniontribune.com