A fairly important aspect of pitching includes throwing a baseball towards the catcher behind home plate. Some may argue that it is the most important aspect of pitching.

Reds pitcher Homer Bailey literally tried to pitch without a baseball on Monday, and it did not go well.

During the fourth inning of the Reds’ game against the Indians, Bailey started his delivery to Greg Allen with the baseball still in his glove.

It wasn’t entirely clear how that happened. The ball may have slipped out of his hand, but Bailey immediately realized that he forgot something as he stepped towards home. He paused and mimicked a pitch before tossing the ball to home out of frustration.

The balk moved runners to second and third, but Bailey was able to pitch out of that jam — by throwing the physical baseball.