I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – we’re living in the toughest of times to be a major league hitter because so many pitchers these days are throwing some of the most ridiculous pitches that we’ve ever seen.
I’m not just talking about all the pitches that hit triple digits on radar guns. Those are really cool and make me so glad that I’ll never have to step inside the box and try to make contact. Did you see what Dustin May did in his return on Saturday? He was throwing just silly stuff.
Forget about those fastballs for a second and feast your eyes upon one of the most beautiful backdoor curveballs you’ll ever see. Check out where this pitch by Atlanta’s Charlie Morton started and where it ended:
Charlie Morton, Pretty 82mph Back Door Curveball. 😍
17 inches of horizontal break.
3,128 RPMs. 9th K. pic.twitter.com/QKlpGhFhZg— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 21, 2022
Not sure what you’re supposed to do with that one! It started so far off the plate and then BOOM, it caught the corner for a called third strike.
Just unfair.
And gorgeous.
Twitter agreed.
https://t.co/ZRsIN5wvrz pic.twitter.com/tvusZPdaVt
— ZoneSportsUS (@ZoneSportsUS) August 22, 2022
No MLB pitcher this season has racked up more called strikes against left-handed hitters with his curveball than Charlie Morton. Rob makes it pretty easy to see why. 👇 https://t.co/ApW2SKgAYm
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 22, 2022
That's an unfathomable amount of RPM https://t.co/bcclgNTDfG
— Colin (@PlayoffRizzoNYY) August 22, 2022
Sorcery https://t.co/ivQSAfjN9Q
— Jeff (@JGH583) August 22, 2022
Disgusting https://t.co/9KgRSDwx0e
— Wil Donohue (@WilDonohue) August 22, 2022
This is just silly. https://t.co/Jsl0asl7hO
— Mark Dedrick (@markdedrick) August 22, 2022
Sheeeeesh the movement. Dude has been a stud his last 2 starts. https://t.co/OI5hhTFzAs
— Michael Danley (@WhiteIverSauce) August 22, 2022
This isn't normal https://t.co/jQNjHsV9I0
— Rhett Hulgan (@rhetthulgan) August 22, 2022
Bro if I took this pitch for strike 3 I would have thrown my bat into space. Literally unfair lmfao. https://t.co/pWs1tAKypz
— Turner (@TKlingenmeier19) August 22, 2022