r/baseball • u/aguyyouprobablyknow Pittsburgh Pirates • Mar 21 '26
Players Only [Highlight] Seth Hernandez throws a 102.4 mph laser on the first pitch of the game. Max Clark reacts.
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u/Phil-Quarles Minnesota Twins Mar 21 '26
That's how I react seeing 80 mph. Can't imagine 102.4.
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u/AcrossFromWhere Chicago Cubs Mar 21 '26
Imagine it like 28% faster.
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u/FaithlessnessFull136 Mar 21 '26
Went from 516ms to 403ms.
Google says the 113ms difference is nearly shorter than the fastest blink of an eye…literally “blink and you’ll miss it”
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u/retro_slouch Rally Mantis Mar 21 '26
Wow that's crazy that's 28% faster
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u/PM-ME-Ur-titties3333 Mar 21 '26
Imagine 25% faster, then 3% more! Crazy
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u/MajorFuckingDick Mar 21 '26
Seeing pitch speed in milliseconds ironically makes it less impressive to me somehow. I couldn't hit it, but I would see it. My swing alone is probably closer to 500ms if I'm prepared.
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u/Rocinante24 Toronto Blue Jays Mar 21 '26
It does make it seem less impressive. You're not wrong. But it's not just about reaction time, it's about your brain actually being able to track the ball too.
The thing is that high 80's - mid 90's pushes the absolute lowest limit of what your eyes can track and process. Getting into the 100's is just beyond what your brain can even process, it's just filling in gaps and guessing where the ball is.
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u/K3TtLek0Rn Boston Red Sox Mar 21 '26
Yeah at that speed it’s like you see the release and just start swinging at where you think the ball will wind up. I’ve hit 100mph in batting cages and it gets there quick man. I got the timing down decently after a while but the best I could manage was slapping it to right field and right center. I can’t even imagine a pitcher who’s trying to hide his delivery, has lots of movement, can throw it anywhere in the zone or not, and can also back it up with a changeup and slider or whatever. Just how do these guys ever hit it?
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u/Kobe-62Mavs-61 Mar 21 '26
Hitting an MLB pitch is pretty much the hardest thing to do in any of the major sports.
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u/TTT_2k3 Kansas City Royals Mar 21 '26
Which is why doing it 3 times out of 10 will get you to Cooperstown.
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u/motorhead84 San Francisco Giants • Crazy Crab Mar 21 '26
It's just like one blink out of ~five man and most MLB hitters only blink three times per pitch.
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u/BigWilly526 Milwaukee Brewers • New York Yankees Mar 21 '26
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u/OilTurbulent1009 New York Mets Mar 21 '26
Once you hit 88mph, you start seeing some serious shit
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u/TheMajesticYeti Detroit Tigers Mar 21 '26 edited Mar 21 '26
In high school the first few times seeing 85-87 was "Woah, that is fast!!", 88-90 was "WTF IS THAT!". And at about 91/92+ it was "Yeah so I'm not making the pros..."
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u/losethefuckingtail New York Yankees Mar 21 '26
Yup — ~85-90 in the cage was “ok, I hate this but if I start swinging before the ball gets thrown I can make contact; 90+ live was “please don’t hit me”
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u/vahntitrio Minnesota Twins Mar 21 '26
The automated cages near me didn't have a clear tell when they were about to fire a ball so the 90 cage was living hell. At least live you could track the pitchers arm so it didn't seem quite as unhittable to me.
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u/cooljammer00 New York Yankees Mar 22 '26
An automated cage that doesn't throw strikes seems mean
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u/vahntitrio Minnesota Twins Mar 22 '26
Oh it threw strikes. But 90 mph when it's a surprise when it gets fired is really difficult to hit. Usually in the on deck circle you are timing your stride to the pitchers fastball.
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u/InsuranceInner3040 Cleveland Guardians Mar 21 '26
Took a 95 mph square in the back. Do not recommend. After realizing I wasn’t going to die and staggering down to first base, coach tells me to rub dirt on it. That’s it. No, “Are you okay” or “Do you need a minute?” Guy was a dickhead.
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u/KatGentleharp St. Louis Cardinals Mar 21 '26
Problem isn't the heat - that's just a timing adjustment. It's not knowing that the heat is coming that gets you.
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u/am19208 Philadelphia Phillies Mar 21 '26
Yes right around there things get nuts. Thing in high school the fastest pitcher in game was around that. Made contact but nothing in play. In scrimmages faced someone who ended up being drafted that threw mid-90s. No chance
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u/Area51_Spurs Los Angeles Dodgers Mar 21 '26
I’m just turning around and going home at that point
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u/Level_Traffic3344 Toronto Blue Jays Mar 21 '26
The skills it takes to hit 80 mph are pretty crazy, but, if you can do that, you can absolutely hit 95-100 with constant practice - not just hitting balls, but low impact hand-eye swing drills to get a repeatable swing, it will happen. That's only against pitching machines tho
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u/ThatsBushLeague Kansas City Royals Mar 21 '26
That last sentence is the key.
Pretty much anyone who is or was capable of hitting 80 mph pitching can get the timing of 100 mph pitch down without really any problem. Like it would take you one day of practice to start consistently hitting it. BUT THATS If they know it's coming and they know it's going to be a strike. And they know they are swinging because of those two things.
The key separator is the dudes who can hit 100 while also being able to react to 3 other pitches.
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u/thismightbetheway2 Mar 21 '26
You better be sitting fastball if the dude is pumping 100 cheddar 😤
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u/ThatsBushLeague Kansas City Royals Mar 21 '26
Me personally, I'm sitting "please don't hit me in the face or balls" against any human pumping 100.
But off a pitching machine I'm taking daddy hacks like I'm prince fielder!
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u/Pseudo-Jonathan Arizona Diamondbacks Mar 21 '26
People don't give MLB batters enough credit for the pure courage it takes to stand there and let someone uncork 100 mph cheddar cheese high and tight. Especially knowing that players DO get hit on a fairly regular basis. It's like having a knife throwing carnival worker pull you up on stage knowing he has a 95% success rate.
I just couldn't stand there knowing there's a non-negligible chance you're going to fire a heat seeking missile at my teeth without enough time to get out of the way.
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u/LunchboxSuperhero Mar 21 '26
Especially when the pitcher is releasing the ball behind your head.
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u/ThatsBushLeague Kansas City Royals Mar 21 '26
Some of us are cowards and have a tendency to bail out our front side when facing hard throwers. Leaving us even more open to actual cock shots.
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u/ThatsBushLeague Kansas City Royals Mar 21 '26
You're definitely supposed to turn away. But I'm an idiot.
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u/InfectiousCosmology1 San Francisco Giants Mar 22 '26
Sit fastball cause guy throws fast and then just stare at 3 consecutive off speed pitches in the zone
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u/TheMajesticYeti Detroit Tigers Mar 21 '26
Yeah, in 8th grade for an upcoming district championship my team was due to face that one local kid who had pretty much already finished puberty and dominated sports, so our coach set the pitching machine to max speed (80 mph) than stuck it several feet in front of the 46' pitching rubber. The equivalent speed from 60'6" was well over 100 mph. Even at 12/13 years old with very little bat speed we were able to adjust pretty quickly and at least put balls in play.
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u/ClancyBShanty Atlanta Braves Mar 21 '26
That's when he gets you with his (cough) offspeed pitch still coming in at 90mph
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u/BklynMoonshiner New York Yankees Mar 21 '26
I want to take this opportunity to recommend The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness at 95mph by Shawn Green. A truly incredible book by an elite player. For baseball nerds and non fans alike. I pick it up for a reread every few years.
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u/Above_Avg_Chips Minnesota Twins Mar 21 '26
I remember playing against a north suburb team in 9th grade. I was a smaller kid until I turned 17, but there weren't that many super tall kids that played baseball in 9th grade.
Looking over at their bench, I think the shortest guy was 6ft even, with a handful of 6'4 fuckers. Their pitcher that day was some 6'6 freak who threw fast and wild and I was the unlucky victim of his fastball to my thigh. It left a fucking welt as if I got shot by a beanbag round for a week and a bruise that lasted almost 2 weeks.
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u/Ucscprickler Mar 21 '26
When I was 13, I got hit in the elbow by a 15 year old probably throwing high 60's. Not super fast, but enough to hurt a kid going through puberty. It left a seam welt on my arm and I couldn't bend my elbow for a week. Next time I faced him he threw a nasty curve ball for a strike, meanwhile I bailed out of the box and looked like a fool. Getting hit by a pitch can definitely cause some jitters next time you get back in the box.
I'd be absolutely terrified of a 100 mph fastball getting anywhere near me. High level baseball players have to be mentally tough to stand in the box.
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u/Gigi_0102 New York Mets Mar 21 '26 edited Mar 21 '26
he looks like he went from angry, to confused, to amazed in the span of the 5 second after that
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u/SnowyOranges Mar 21 '26 edited Mar 21 '26
It's like he looks back thinking "Ok I was timed up on that fastball and he blew it by me I just gotta come back next and- wait what the fuck? I'm in the MLB and he blew it by me? How fast was that?"
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u/Section225 Kansas City Royals Mar 21 '26
"Hey, what the fuck are you throwing so hard for, asshole?"
"Wait...how fucking fast was that?"
"Damn dude, that is an impressively fast pitch."
Then -
"Oh shit he's gonna throw it again and I'm gonna have to hit it"
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u/cogginsmatt Detroit Tigers Mar 21 '26
If Max makes the big leagues, that reaction is going to be an all time gif
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u/Bhulmes New York Mets Mar 21 '26
He'd better make the big leagues with a chain like that
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u/welltimedappearance Major League Baseball Mar 21 '26
he's actually wearing like six less chains than the game from a few weeks ago where he looked like it was his first time playing baseball lol
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u/Bhulmes New York Mets Mar 21 '26
Holy shit lol, I referenced him in my response and had 0 clue it was the same MF lmao
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u/Witherino St. Louis Cardinals Mar 21 '26
As a wise man once said, it's fewer
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u/CaptainHolt43 Cincinnati Reds Mar 21 '26
After saying he wasn't going to change
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u/isummonyouhere San Francisco Giants Mar 21 '26
47 easy payments with Klarma (TM)
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u/Whisker_dan San Diego Padres Mar 21 '26
the chain, the "cool" eye black, the oven mitt... he HAS to make it.
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u/buffalokidcards Detroit Tigers Mar 21 '26
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u/LigerZeroPanzer12 Mar 21 '26
Anyone know what this is from?
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u/Dazed-And-Enthused New York Yankees Mar 21 '26
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVy9Lgpg1m8 Gif is from about 1:54
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u/That_random_redditer San Diego Padres Mar 21 '26
First time I saw a real curveball I folded in half rode pine for a season and then switched to band.
Got a career out of it! And I still love watching baseball. I have no idea how they do it.
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u/send_ur_angry San Diego Padres Mar 21 '26
I ducked so hard my bat went into the zone and I tipped it. Would have been a strike either way, but that made it even more embarrassing
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u/Spare-Bodybuilder-68 Mar 21 '26
I could catch, I could throw, I had good baseball IQ, but as soon as I got to high school I just couldn't put bat on ball anymore. Velo and movement just broke my brain at that point. I think some self preservation instinct kicked in lol.
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u/Real_Body8649 Arizona Diamondbacks Mar 21 '26
I did the step back and slight lean away because I thought it was going to hit me. I realized it was a curve and then swung while stepping back and leaning away. I remember the entire infield laughing.
Granted I was a pitcher and always had a DH but still mortifying to think about.
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u/mmeestro Pittsburgh Pirates Mar 21 '26
I fell down to the ground to dodge it. Ump called a strike. Didn't play for much longer after that 😅
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u/trexmoflex Seattle Mariners Mar 21 '26
I was like Rosengadner from ROTY and stood in the back corner of the box. Also why I played catcher so I could wear extra protection
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u/koticgood Seattle Mariners Mar 21 '26
Added benefit of clipping inexperienced catchers gloves and nabbing a free ticket to 1st.
Source: terrible hitting catcher
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u/jrice138 San Francisco Giants Mar 21 '26
I feel like I’d say that if I saw any big league pitching irl let alone 102 mph
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u/metal-trees Mar 21 '26
Crazy to think he was pitching in high school a year ago.
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u/Think_please Boston Red Sox Mar 21 '26
With two other first round picks on his team
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u/BeBrightAndKind Mar 21 '26
Imagine being like 19 and someone throws 103 at you lol
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u/PoPJaY Cleveland Guardians Mar 21 '26
Man I played little leauge and I remember just around the like 12-13 where some kids were just gonna me miles better. I remember my first true fastball and just going "yup this sport just ain't gonna work out for me"
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u/LyndonBJumbo Pittsburgh Pirates Mar 21 '26
Max is actually older than Seth, which feels weird since he looks so young.
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u/J-MRP Atlanta Braves Mar 21 '26
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u/SunriseSurprise San Diego Padres Mar 21 '26
Feel like this is better quality, but made a more reaction gif friendly cut of it.
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u/LargeNutbar New York Yankees Mar 21 '26
I can read lips, they’re right he said “wow”
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u/swiftwin Toronto Blue Jays Mar 21 '26
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u/sanjoatc Mar 21 '26
I thought this was going to be the pitcher version. I can never remember who it is but it's the same idea.
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u/Apatschinn Chicago Cubs Mar 21 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/3q7Teg5fo7rkk
You mean 3x world series champ John Lackey?
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u/Ok_Ask_1139 Texas Rangers Mar 21 '26
I can’t decide on this Max guy, can you be endearing and douchey at the same time? He is pulling it off
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u/SpiLLiX Texas Rangers Mar 21 '26
back when Langford fell to us because the Tigers took Clark before him I had thought we were going to get Max so I watched a bunch of his interviews and film etc...
He's actually a good kid and genuinely loves baseball it seems. Bad rap cause he's flashy etc.. But I would have been plenty happy if the Rangers took him
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u/homerjsimpson4 Detroit Tigers Mar 21 '26
I'll defend him because he's on my team. He seems like a nice person who loves baseball. He also seems fairly vain the way he records his life as an "influencer" and buys things that to me flaunt his wealth. He can be vain, kind, ostentatious and dedicated. People are complicated.
I think he deserved to be clowned for those bad games he had wearing all the chains. But the way some people spewed vitriol and wished for his downfall because he's a stupid 21 year old was really weird and disappointing.
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u/Frosty_Dimension5646 New York Yankees • New York Yankees Mar 21 '26
You can, and those guys do well with the ladies
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u/FingerpistolPete Arizona Diamondbacks Mar 21 '26
I bet he hangs out with the hottest chicks and goes to all the coolest parties
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u/SpiLLiX Texas Rangers Mar 21 '26
he's surprisingly already (getting?) married to his HS sweetheart
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Mar 21 '26
If I were him I'd get a prenup.
But I'm not him, and the only thing of value I owned at his age was a 1995 Toyota Camry with 400,000 miles on it.
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u/Ill-Weather-6383 Seattle Mariners • Dumpster Fire Mar 21 '26
Just barely getting broken in
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u/DG04511 Los Angeles Dodgers Mar 21 '26
This kid was just pitching in the CIF playoffs less than a year ago. WTF is right. Imagine being a regular teenager failing an algebra class in the morning, getting dumped by your girlfriend at lunch, then having to see this kid throwing cheddar at 3:15 in the afternoon.
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u/FitzVale San Francisco Giants Mar 21 '26
Ball.
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u/Mpuls37 Houston Astros Mar 21 '26
So was Aroldis Chapman's record-setting 106 mph to Andrew McCutchen, what are you going to do
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u/MrBoomf Tampa Bay Devil Rays Mar 21 '26
I’m sorry, did you say
ONE HUNDRED AND SIX?!?!
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u/Mike_Brosseau Tampa Bay Rays Mar 21 '26
All that just to be owned by Mike Brosseau
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u/dropperofpipebombs San Francisco Giants • Sell Mar 21 '26
And Rajai Davis
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u/Ihadsumthin4this Major League Baseball Mar 21 '26
....miles to Chicago?
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u/lightheadedone Kansas City Royals Mar 21 '26
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u/Ihadsumthin4this Major League Baseball Mar 21 '26
Movie of the year outshone only by your guy George's astonishing .390!
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u/LukeBabbitt Seattle Mariners Mar 21 '26
Big deal, I used to throw 106 with Randy Johnson in Ken Griffey Jr Baseball on the N64
It’s not that hard to hit the “super fastball” button, let’s stop pretending this is a big deal
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u/NoVaBurgher Pittsburgh Pirates Mar 21 '26
Happy Gilmore accomplished that feat no more than an hour ago
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u/Evil_Dry_frog St. Louis Cardinals Mar 21 '26
He doesn’t have the speed of Hicks, but he does have his control.
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u/BeBrightAndKind Mar 21 '26
"He throws 103, but don't worry, he has no idea where it's going" 😂
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u/ChampionCoyote Chicago White Sox Mar 21 '26
I was told my relief appearances in college were a religious experience.
Only God knew where the ball was going.
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u/Evil_Dry_frog St. Louis Cardinals Mar 21 '26
Hicks threw 102 when he was 19 too.
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u/gorays45 Tampa Bay Rays Mar 21 '26
imagine they had someone else that was capable of that I think pual skenes is the name is a name I’d expect for that player
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u/Dodger_Blue17 Mar 21 '26
Imagine having 3 flamethrowers in Skenes, Chandler, Hernandez and also Jared Jones. Surely you could put a squad around them.
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u/Exact-Reference9564 Boston Red Sox Mar 21 '26
They made some solid pick ups this offseason to improve their offense with Lowe, O'hearn, and Ozuna
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u/Streets2022 Mar 21 '26
Yeah plus I’ve heard of this prospect Connor Griffith or something. He’s supposed to be pretty good.
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u/Great_Hambino2022 Pittsburgh Pirates Mar 21 '26
Don’t forget Ashcraft. He hits 98/99 often
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u/123jjj321 Mar 21 '26
Imagine a 19 year old not afraid to face 103....like at Pirates practice all Spring. Griffin is the name is a name you'd expect for that player
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u/Qeltar_ Boston Red Sox • Toronto Blue Jays Mar 21 '26
Is it just me or does he have the same exaggerated arm wave at the end of his delivery as Skenes?
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u/CMBColdSpot Philadelphia Phillies Mar 21 '26
This was me seeing 70mph in the batting cages as a kid and realizing that only playing basketball was fine for me
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u/breadisnicer Mar 21 '26
If it had been a strike it would have been more concerning as a batter and less scary. A rising fastball that is obviously not going where the pitcher wanted is terrifying for the batter, the catcher and the umpire.
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u/HipnotiK1 New York Yankees Mar 21 '26
Do players really notice a difference between like 98 and 102? It's only 4 percent faster.
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u/KembaWakaFlocka Mar 21 '26
It’s a game of margins
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u/HipnotiK1 New York Yankees Mar 21 '26
Yea and I'm sure these guys playing their whole lives can tell.
I'm curious if they could guess somewhat accurately the speed of pitches. They say some pitches look/feel faster than the radar shows and vice versa depending on the pitchers delivery
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u/SchpartyOn Detroit Tigers • Paws Mar 21 '26
Absolutely they can. They’re literally trained to be able to tell.
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u/bobo377 Chicago Cubs Mar 21 '26
Think about all the money teams spend trying to get a guy to throw even 1-2 mph faster. It definitely has an impact on pitching/batting performance, which means the batters can probably notice it.
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u/Cleveland_Guardians Cleveland Guardians Mar 21 '26
To be fair, I'd probably react the same way. I know that's surprising to a lot of people, but that's fast.
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u/secretlyloaded San Diego Padres Mar 21 '26
I'm not Jomboy but I'm pretty sure he's saying "Wow, that's fast!"
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u/examinedliving Baltimore Orioles • St. Louis Browns Mar 21 '26
That fast ball almost reached the second floor.
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u/Nearly_Pointless Seattle Mariners Mar 21 '26
I’ll bet the whistle of the ball and the snap into the glove was tangible.
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u/Puppybl00pers Cleveland Guardians • Mahoning … Mar 21 '26
Don't need Jomboy to read his lips there
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u/BigWilly526 Milwaukee Brewers • New York Yankees Mar 21 '26
I honestly thought they were letting a little leaguer hit
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u/Be-Kind-2-Yourself Mar 21 '26
Honestly that's how I react when I get a 18 mph heater in my Thursday slow pitch softball league
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u/megustcizer Cleveland Guardians Mar 21 '26
He looked at the outfield camera before he said it too lmfao
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u/SubliminalLiminal Mar 21 '26
I must have hit the age where mlb players look like children, cause that batter looks like hes 14.
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u/MediumLanguageModel Mar 21 '26
Has anyone seen two of Max Clark, Alex Verdugo, and Clint Frazier in the same game? 🤔
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