Tag: cool pitches

A’s closer Mason Miller amazingly threw the fastest pitch in Oakland Coliseum history in the stadium’s final at-bat

How can you not be romantic about baseball?

For one final time, the Athletics had an opportunity to play in front of their fans in Oakland. And for closer Mason Miller, he was ready to give them his absolute best.

The All-Star righty entered Thursday’s game in the eighth inning against the Rangers to go for a four-out save. And if there’s one thing fans can expect from Miller, it’s absolute gas on the radar gun. But even for Miller, Thursday’s outing was the kind of farewell performance that Oakland Coliseum has never seen — nor will it ever see again.

In front of a crowd of 46,889 and battling through two delays (a fan on the field and a smoke bomb), Miller threw a 103.8 mph fastball that was fouled off. He ended the game on a 103.5 mph fastball the next pitch.

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1839427795140948227

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1839426793599873480

That 103.8 mph fastball, though, was the fastest pitch an A’s pitcher has thrown at Oakland Coliseum in the Statcast era. And that just happened to be during the final at-bat in the stadium’s history.

How can you not be romantic about baseball?

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Luis Castillo completely humiliated the Mets’ José Iglesias with a ridiculous 96 mph sinker for a strikeout

He literally had him taking a seat.

There is no task more difficult in sports than hitting big-league pitching. Sure, there are arguments to be made for other sports, but at times, MLB pitchers have it seem miraculous that anyone is even able to make contact.

On Sunday, Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo offered his own case for that argument.

Facing Mets third baseman José Iglesias in the fourth inning with a 1-2 count, Castillo broke out a 96 mph sinker that basically had Iglesias swinging out of his shoes. Iglesias — who is having himself a great season — looked completely overmatched as he swung through the inside pitch and fell to the ground.

Like, what is Iglesias even supposed to do there? The pitch looked like it was heading towards the heart of the strike zone before abruptly running inside — 20 inches of horizontal break will do that.

Even the best hitters are bound to get embarrassed from time to time. It just happened to be Iglesias’ turn on Sunday.

Fans were understandably stunned with that pitch. That’s a tough strikeout to bounce back from.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

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Matt Waldron’s gravity-defying knuckleball played out like a cruel joke on Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka

Never seen a knuckleball do THAT in mid-air.

It’s been years since MLB has seen a pitcher throw the knuckleball with as much consistency as Padres pitcher Matt Waldron has this season. And while fans have absolutely loved watching that knuckleball in action, it can be mayhem for catchers.

Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka would probably agree with that.

Waldron was on the mound for San Diego in Saturday’s game against the Diamondbacks. And during José Herrera’s second-inning at-bat, Waldron’s knuckleball seemingly left his hand with spin before hitting the brakes in mid-air for that aggressive knuckleball action. Of course, all that movement threw Higashioka off as he desperately tried to follow the knuckleball’s trajectory.

If you told me this was a practical joke on Higashioka, I would have believed you.

The knuckleball would hit the heel of Higashioka’s glove for the most unfortunate of passed balls. Like, did the official scorer see that pitch?! I wouldn’t blame Higashioka for struggling with it.

Fans, though, could not stop watching the replay. Physics did not apply to that knuckleball.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

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MLB fans had so many jokes after Justin Verlander’s curveball completely embarrassed Edouard Julien

He lost his bat AND helmet.

When Justin Verlander signed with the Mets this past offseason, he probably expected to be playing October baseball at Citi Field. But a shockingly poor season from the Mets led to the three-time Cy Young Award winner getting postseason baseball in a familiar place elsewhere.

Saturday’s Game 1 of the American League Division Series was a perfect example of why the Astros traded back for Verlander in August. He was sensational on the afternoon, and the Twins’ Edouard Julien would probably agree.

Verlander went six innings of scoreless, four-hit baseball in the 6-4 win, and no moment summed up his dominant outing better than his fifth-inning strikeout of Julien.

The 77 mph curveball sent both Julien’s bat and helmet flying in opposite directions. Like, whoa.

Julien doubled off Verlander in his first at-bat, but after that, we know who won that battle. Of course MLB fans roasted Julien for the wild swing. It’s never a good sign when equipment goes sailing everywhere.

Rays’ Kevin Kelly threw a frisbee-like sweeper that broke 21 inches

This pitch looks like a frisbee!

We’ve seen so many good pitches thrown by MLB hurlers in 2023, but the one pitch type I’m all about this year is the sweeper.

We’ve seen Shohei Ohtani fool hitters with one, a pitch that breaks horizontally and looks incredible. We’ve seen ballparks call it a “slutter” — a slider and cutter, combined — but the sweeper term is the way to go.

Rob Friedman at @PitchingNinja featured one from Tampa Bay Rays reliever Kevin Kelly, and whew, it’s awesome looking outside before it whizzes its way back over the plate for a strike on the corner.

This is so so cool:

Aroldis Chapman’s gravity-defying 102 mph sinker had Luis Rengifo laughing after a strikeout

Can you blame him?

Fans often don’t realize the kind of courage that it takes to step into the batter’s box and face a big-league pitcher. Like, if I’m staring down a pitch from Aroldis Chapman, the only emotion I’m experiencing is complete and utter terror.

Angels infielder Luis Rengifo, on the other hand, can laugh about facing Chapman. He’s just built different.

During Tuesday’s game between the Angels and Rangers, Chapman pitched a perfect eighth inning and got the appearance started with a seven-pitch strikeout of Rengifo. The pitch that ultimately retired Rengifo on strikes was straight-up unfair — a 102.2 mph sinker that tailed towards the left-handed batter’s box from a lefty pitcher.

There wasn’t much Rengifo could’ve done with that pitch, and he didn’t hide his thoughts on that whole experience against Chapman. Shortly after striking out, Rengifo was laughing as he returned to the dugout.

A 102 mph pitch shouldn’t move like that, so I can’t blame Rengifo for being dismayed. Fans related with Rengifo’s disbelief even if the laughter was shocking to see.

Mets pitcher Kodai Senga’s ridiculous ghost fork had Dansby Swanson fuming after a strikeout

Can’t blame him after that pitch.

There haven’t been many positives to take away from the New York Mets’ 2023 season, but first-year pitcher Kodai Senga has certainly held up his end of the bargain.

Senga arrived from Japan’s NPB after signing a five-year, $75 million deal with the Mets in December. And he quickly introduced big-league hitters to his signature pitch: the ghost fork.

The pitch is amazingly deceptive and looks like a fastball to the hitter until the pitch takes a life of its own with forkball movement. In Monday’s 11-2 win over the Chicago Cubs, Senga’s ghost fork basically had shortstop Dansby Swanson in disbelief after a strikeout.

Swanson struck out against the ghost fork in his first at-bat. And his second at-bat didn’t go any better in the third inning. Swanson fell behind in the count, and Senga finished him off with a 79 mph ghost fork that broke 49 inches vertically.

Again, that’s a pitch that initially looks like a fastball to the batter. There’s not much anyone can do about that, and Swanson couldn’t hold back his frustration after the strikeout. He spiked his bat and helmet as the inning came to a close.

Fans were also impressed with the pitch. A ghost fork like that one is almost impossible to hit.

Mariners pitcher Matt Brash humiliated Willi Castro by striking him out on a curveball between his legs

An actual magic trick.

No batter out there wants to fall behind in the count, but that is especially true when they’re facing a pitcher like the Mariners’ Matt Brash.

It almost never ends well for the hitter.

In just his second year in the big leagues, Brash has proved himself as an electric arm out of the Mariners bullpen. He’s striking out 16 batters per nine innings, and he boasts a filthy slider and knuckle curveball to go along with a fastball near triple digits. The pitch made a devastating impression on Jose Ramirez during Opening Day.

During the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game between the Mariners and Twins, it was Willi Castro’s turn to look silly against that knuckle curve.

With Brash ahead in the count at 1-2, the Mariners pitcher unleashed that knuckle curveball after three straight fastballs. Castro wasn’t ready at all for that kind of movement. He swung at the pitch even as the ball broke between his legs. The pitch was 88 mph with 42 inches of vertical break and 13 inches of horizontal run.

That’s just not fair, especially when you just saw a 99 mph fastball a pitch earlier.

No wonder MLB fans were in awe of that knuckle curveball. Between the legs should count as an extra strikeout.

Blue Jays pitcher Trevor Richards’ slow-motion changeup release is hypnotizing

Trevor Richards’ changeup release in slow-motion is a thing of beauty.

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Trevor Richards terrorized the Chicago White Sox hitting lineup on Thursday with his devastating changups.

On one incredible pitch, you could watch Ricards throw a changeup on a downward pitch that tricked a White Sox batter into swinging when it was well out of range by the time it hit the catcher.

On that pitch, the ball hits an absurd 2831 revolutions per minute before reaching home plate. Seeing the release in slow-motion is just something else.

When you’re watching a pitcher as talented as Richards go to work at his best, you’re going to see some fantastic pitches such as this. Chicago didn’t stand a chance against such an electric set on the mound.

Toronto won their game against Chicago, 5-4, thanks in part to Richards’ changeup prowess on the mound.

If you’re trying to hit against the changeup anytime soon, you’re going to want to watch these highlights and study how Richards pulls off his deception. If you don’t, good luck hitting one of these.

Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller wowed MLB fans with a frisbee-like sweeper that broke over 2 feet

It doesn’t even look real.

The Pittsburgh Pirates went into the 2023 season expected to finish near the bottom of the NL Central. Well, we’re in June now, and they’re sitting atop the division in a virtual tie with the Brewers.

Mitch Keller has been a huge reason why. When Keller is at his best, he has truly one of the filthiest pitches in baseball. And on Sunday, he unleashed that sweeper on the Mets’ Brandon Nimmo.

Pitching in a scoreless game in the third inning, Keller got Nimmo to strike out swinging on an 83 mph sweeper that broke 26 inches, according to Statcast (even more than the tweet’s 24 inches).

I’m not sure what Nimmo was supposed to do with that pitch. It appeared to be heading towards the outside part of the plate before breaking sharply off the plate and inside near the feet.

With a two-strike count, that’s an incredibly difficult pitch to lay off. And Nimmo likely didn’t expect that kind of movement. After all, it’s not every game you see a pitch break 26 inches horizontally. Keller basically turned that baseball into a frisbee and stunned MLB fans in the process.

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