Thomas Pannone sensed some worry from the Triple-A Nashville teammates and coaches who witnessed his Labor Day warm-up in the bullpen in Durham, N.C. He was sharp. Maybe too sharp. Pannone has been around baseball’s proverbial block enough times to know that a great pregame bullpen doesn’t always translate to a great game.
“But I brought it out into the game,” he said.
Did he ever. Pannone accomplished something on Monday that hadn’t been done in nearly a decade in the Minor Leagues: he threw a perfect game.
The 32-year-old left-hander, whom the Brewers signed in 2024, blanked Durham in Triple-A Nashville’s 3-0 victory at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Working with catcher Ramón Rodríguez, Pannone struck out eight in the perfecto, needing just 94 pitches (61 of which were strikes) in the effort.
The perfect game is the first by a single pitcher in the Minors since 2017, when the feat was accomplished twice -- Tyler Mahle did it for Double-A Pensacola on April 22 of that season, and Domenic Mazza did it for Class A Augusta just three days later.
It is the third perfect game in the history of the Nashville Sounds -- John Wasdin threw one on April 7, 2003 (when Nashville was a Pirates affiliate) and Manny Parra had one on June 25, 2007.
Pannone’s perfect game is the fifth in the history of the International League, which dates back to 1884. The prior IL perfectos came in 1910 (Chet Carmichael for Buffalo on Aug. 9), 2000 (Tomo Ohka for Pawtucket on June 1), 2003 (Bronson Arroyo for Pawtucket on Aug. 10) and 2011 (Justin Germano for Columbus on July 26).
There have been only 24 perfect games in MLB history, the most recent thrown by the Yankees’ Domingo Germán in 2023.
Needless to say, it’s a rare feat.
Even rarer for a journeyman whose fastball topped out at 91.2 mph on Monday night.
“Around baseball these days, it’s so much about stuff, so much about velo,” Pannone said. “But I kind of proved that it’s really not. It’s about executing, getting ahead, staying ahead and controlling the counts. If you can change speeds even the littlest bit and command your pitches, I believe that you can have success in this game. Like, I really, truly believe.”
And yes, Pannone was aware he was working on a perfect game. He had not pitched beyond the fourth inning in any of his four starts since returning to the Minors. When he reached the fifth, it struck him that there were no runs, no hits, no walks, no errors.
The rest of the night was more joyful than anything, he said. Minor League teams don’t typically play on Mondays, but the Sounds and Bulls played on this Monday because it was Labor Day. It also happened to be beloved Sounds manager Rick Sweet’s birthday.
“I just felt like God was on my side,” Pannone said. “I just felt powerful, and I believed in it, too.”
In the ninth, he knew what was at stake. After 26 up, 26 down, he fell into a 3-0 count against the 27th batter, Homer Bush Jr.
“In my head, I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m not going down by walking this guy,’” Pannone said.
So he threw an 86.9 mph fastball down the middle for a called strike. Then he executed a perfect sinker on the outside corner and induced a game-ending groundout to shortstop. It was perfect.
The Durham grounds crew couldn’t have been nicer, Pannone said. They dug out the rubber from the pitcher’s mound so he could leave with a priceless keepsake. Then his teammates and Pannone talked and celebrated deep into the night.
“I literally felt like I was dreaming,” he said.
Selected in the ninth round of the 2013 Draft by Cleveland, Pannone made his Major League debut for the Blue Jays on Aug. 10, 2018. He’s had a long and winding baseball journey since then.
From 2021-23, Pannone pitched in the Minors for the Angels, Red Sox and Brewers. He also made one big league appearance for Milwaukee in ’23, and he pitched in Korea for the Kia Tigers in 2022 and ’23.
In 2024, Pannone pitched in the Minors for the Cubs and Yankees, though he did not appear in the Majors. He missed the entire ’25 campaign due to a torn flexor tendon in his left forearm.
The Brewers signed Pannone to a Minor League deal in November 2024. On July 29 of this season, he made his first Major League start in seven years when he took the mound for Milwaukee against the Giants in San Francisco. Two days later, he was designated for assignment.
And now, perfection.
“To keep showing up and keep doing it every time I get the ball, every time I get a chance, it’s pretty cool,” Pannone said. “To do this at 32 years old and be able to say I’ve thrown a perfect game, it’s even just crazy to say out loud.”