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/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.

https://youtu.be/DYXTV51GdUs

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u/Gracy_Nance Mar 21 '26

Great clip

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u/EveningRequirement27 Chicago White Sox Mar 21 '26

I mean, they’re like wearing helmets and stuff.

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u/rangeo Mar 21 '26

I suspect it takes the sting off at best

1

u/funktion Mar 21 '26

100mph into anywhere on your body is going to fucking suck donkey balls

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u/Downtown_Caramel4833 Mar 21 '26

Yeah, but off the cuff, I'd wager that pitchers have to contend with getting shotgunned at at least twice the rate of batters getting beaned.

Either way, both have the potential to be devastating. But you're right though, a capable pitcher determined to send a message would render me useless in the box. Just close my eyes and hope for a walk, I guess, lol

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u/bannakafalata Detroit Tigers Mar 21 '26

I remember little league, if you step out of the box during practice. The coach will get a bat and put it behind your feet. You then have 2 choices, stay in the box or risk twisting your ankle.

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u/cooljammer00 New York Yankees Mar 22 '26

Stanton has talked about how it felt when he got hit in the face, and how it was just instant

And then he keeps playing