There arguably isn’t a more difficult task in all of professional sports than hitting big-league pitching. In today’s MLB, batters are facing pitchers who throw around triple digits with intense movement and devastating breaking balls. It seems impossible.
But that task becomes demonstrably easier when you know what pitch is coming. After all, it’s why MLB had a whole scandal about sign stealing.
That’s what made Luis Castillo’s Monday night outing so remarkably embarrassing for the Chicago White Sox hitters. Castillo decided that he was going to completely abandon his breaking pitches (slider and changeup) and only throw fastballs from the fourth inning on.
Luis Castillo just threw 47 Consecutive Fastballs. 😂 pic.twitter.com/LOv4sD2QuJ
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 22, 2023
And guess what? It worked!
Castillo threw 47 straight fastballs against the White Sox. From the fourth inning through the seventh inning, the White Sox only managed two hits and no runs despite almost certainly picking up on the trend. They knew a fastball was coming, and they simply could not make Castillo pay for it.
Castillo ended up striking out nine hitters in seven innings and allowed five hits.
The glorified bullpen session turned into a 14-2 White Sox loss, and fans roasted the White Sox for getting shut down by 47 straight fastballs.