Tag: Willians Astudillo

Willians Astudillo threw a 40 MPH meatball … and somehow got a double play out of it

He’s back for another inning, and getting double plays!

We love when position players pitch, and especially when we watch Willians Astudillo occasionally throw an inning.

That’s happened in the past, when the then-Twin threw a 46 MPH baseball that was taken for a strike last season. Now, he’s a Miami Marlin who came in earlier this season, and was called upon in the middle of the Cincinnati Reds blowing his team out to finish up.

And he threw a scoreless inning!

That included a 40 MPH meatball that he threw to Donovan Solano with a man on first … and it turned into a double play to end the eighth!

Everyone loved it, as they should:

This mashup of ‘Running Up That Hill’ and Willlians Astudillo’s game-winning run is the best thing you’ll see today

Be running up that road. Be running up that hill. Be running up that building.

The Miami Marlins had an insane finish against the Washington Nationals, and their game went into extra innings.

Miami’s Willians Astudillo, also known as La Tortuga, was in scoring position on second base when Jesús Aguilar came up to bat. Aguilar was 0-for-3 before the crucial at-bat, and he was in the midst of a massive slump.

Aguilar, however, hit one up the middle that ricocheted off second base and bounced into the outfield. Astudillo, meanwhile, hustled his way around the bases and made his way in to try and score.

It was magical watching Astudillo hustle towards home, and it was even more beautiful watching the walk-off set to the tune of “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush.

You can thank Jeremy Taché, of Bally Sports Florida, for this brilliance:

“Running Up That Hill” was recently used in Netflix’s Stranger Things, and the cult classic has enjoyed a resurgence of late.

Even though she released the song in 1985, the track became No. 1 on iTunes and just made the Billboard Top 10 charts for the first time. The track is also trending on Tik Tok.

But it really came to life most when set to this awesome baseball highlight.

There is just so much to love about this video, including the reactions from La Tortuga’s Miami teammates or the way his hair is flowing in the wind due to his blazing speed on the base paths.

Astudillo showcased good fundamentals on his slide into the plate, too, and I just wish that there were more fans at the game in Miami to see this unfold at the game.

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Nobody should be upset about Yermin Mercedes hitting a 47 MPH 3-0 pitch for a HR in a blowout

This is great! No controversy here!

I haven’t seen this become a big deal on the interwebs yet, and that’s the way it should stay.

But let’s break down what happened on Monday: the Chicago White Sox were in the middle of demolishing the Minnesota Twins in the ninth inning, up 15-4. The Twins had brought in position player Willians Astudillo to pitch, and you’ll recall he did the same earlier this season and threw a 46 MPH pitch for a strike.

White Sox DH Yermin Mercedes had a 3-0 count and saw a 47 MPH ball heading his way. So he did what any hitter would and should do to the pitch, even in a blowout: he hit a home run:

You can her the Twins’ broadcast expressing some unhappiness there, to which I say: there should be zero problem here. Home runs are awesome, even on 3-0, even against a position player pitching, even against one who throws pitches 47 MPH.

For one thing, Mercedes hasn’t gone yard since April 29. Maybe this is a confidence-builder for future games! For another, baseball is a game. Let’s have some fun here!

This is fantastic!! No problems here whatsoever.

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Watch the Twins’ Willians Astudillo throw a 46 MPH pitch for a strike

Willians Astudillo is a certified pitcher now

Willians Astudillo can do it all for the Twins. He primarily plays catcher, but he’s also seen time at both first and second base already this season for the Twins.

Apparently, I guess, he’s a pitcher, too. With the Twins down 10-3 to the Angels on Friday, they called upon Astudillo to pull them through a couple of innings. Might as well, right? Things can’t get any worse.

So he took the mound. And he tossed a pitch at 46 miles per hour. And…it worked.

That’s right. A 46 MPH pitch somehow made it past the plate in a Major League Baseball game. Unbelievable.

That’s not all, though. He actually threw a perfect 1-2-3 inning on seven pitches. That’s…pretty great! Especially for a position player.

And look at how slick this fastball is. It’s pretty remarkable.

Just incredible stuff from La Tortuga. This is the best.

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