Comedian Chelsea Peretti predicted pitcher John Holdzkom's MLB debut on her podcast
A comedian predicted John Holdzkom's MLB debut
"I think you're going to go to the Majors after Australia." Thus comedian and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" star Chelsea Peretti cemented her place as an MLB prognosticator.
Two and a half years ago, John Holdzkom was a former fourth-round draft pick and Minor League pitcher with time on his hands. So he did what any 20-something would do: He called into a podcast recording.
Holdzkom rang up "Call Chelsea Peretti," the literally-named podcast where Peretti takes calls from random listeners about random topics. He told the Pittsburg Post-Gazette that he still doesn't know why he called -- it wasn't a baseball-themed episode. In fact, when Holdzkom called in, Peretti told him that the topic was "Your mom."
But instead of Mrs. Holdzkom, they ended up discussing John's rough go of it in the Minor Leagues:
Holdzkom replied: "I did. I'm not going to lie. I wasn't as good as I thought I was, and my arm wasn't as healthy as I thought it was."
Holdzkom told Peretti he was going to Australia to play, and that's when Peretti made her off-the-cuff prediction. It came true two years later, in a Pirates game versus the Cardinals:
She did not predict, however, that Holdzkom would make an appearance on national television as the doppelganger of Seth Meyers and Jerry Seinfeld.
The Pirates optioned Holdzkom to Triple-A on Tuesday, but it seems likely he'll be back with the club at some point this season.