Mets minor league pitcher Aaron Laffey began Wednesday night as the starting pitcher for the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s. By the end of the evening, he had given up 14 runs and quit baseball altogether.
Hours after allowing 12 earned runs in a 16-4 loss to the New Orleans Baby Cakes, Laffey pulled the plug on a career that spanned over 10 big-league seasons and more than 50 major league starts.
“He just felt it from inside that he gave it everything he had after 16 years,” manager Tony DeFrancesco told the Las Vegas Review-Journal after the game about the 2003 draft pick. “Plus, the results weren’t very good so that could have been part of it. But at times, you lose your fire and that’s where he’s at.”
In his first two appearances with Vegas, Laffey gave up seven and eight runs, respectively, as he filled in for a shallow rotation in need of an extra arm.
Against New Orleans, the journeyman already had given up eight runs through three innings, but the 51s’ lack of bullpen depth meant DeFrancesco was forced to keep him in the game a bit longer.
Laffey had signed with the Mets just a few weeks ago, off the independent Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League, in another go-round with the organization. He had pitched 10 innings for the Mets after signing with the team in 2013, pitching to a 7.20 ERA in four games. He also spent time with the Yankees in 2011.
He last played in the big leagues for the Colorado Rockies in 2015.