Baltimore Orioles closer Félix Bautista is just about as close as it gets to an unhittable pitcher in Major League Baseball. All it takes is one look at Bautista’s splitter to see why.
Bautista entered Sunday’s game against the Rays with a ridiculous 0.94 ERA, 27 saves and 17.4 strikeouts per nine innings. He’s been unreal this year, and his scoreless ninth inning against the Rays made for one of the cooler videos we’ll see this season.
Facing Josh Lowe with one on in the ninth inning, Bautista got way ahead in the count with three straight fastballs around triple digits. And with Lowe just looking to stay alive in the at-bat, Bautista struck him out with an 0-2 splitter that basically defied gravity.
Félix Bautista, 546 RPM Butterfly Splitter 🦋 pic.twitter.com/f9xEtk7gT5
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) July 23, 2023
It shouldn’t be possible for anyone to throw a baseball 89 mph with *that* grip, but Bautista is just that good. His fastball also topped off at 101.4 mph on Sunday.
In slow motion, you can almost see the precise moment where the ball changed its trajectory and just collapsed low and outside. There’s nothing Lowe could’ve done with that pitch. The pitch looked like a strike and then just disappeared.
No wonder MLB fans were in awe of that splitter. The replay captured it perfectly.
This was how Twitter reacted
And people think baseball isn’t the hardest sport in the world to play. https://t.co/BZKI9JeoBj
— Ant (@LilForskin) July 23, 2023
A grip and movement after my own heart 😍😍😍#splitters4life https://t.co/Y1LtACBy9w
— Jason Wippich (@Wipps) July 23, 2023
93 mph knuckleball 😂 my god https://t.co/UBzSFvIUzm
— Justin (@brackett_justin) July 23, 2023
Beautiful pitch. https://t.co/ffDuwWrajI
— juhwoddy (@juhwoddy) July 23, 2023
Gross https://t.co/ItQRl6TmWI
— Hooch (@CompanyHooch) July 23, 2023
Anyone that thinks they can hit major league pitching, or ask why someone swung at a pitch, should be forced to watch videos like this. https://t.co/IT6iwbZUb6
— divingintofirst (@divingintof1rst) July 23, 2023
That break isn’t happening until the bat is already in motion. Good luck- hope you guessed right! 😱 https://t.co/h4UPCY2yya
— Oldi Mike Kenobi (@mhuntone) July 23, 2023
King Felix! @Softykjr https://t.co/2s8sPPspd5
— A.Mazon (@afmazon) July 23, 2023
This man deserves Cy Young consideration. Absolutely insane what he’s doing this season. https://t.co/yisKRD1a3L
— Brian Reid (@bshupresident) July 23, 2023
Just not fair. https://t.co/1tT7NS5cBc
— Rob Wilson (@robwilson1969) July 23, 2023
Wow he is a force to be reckoned with https://t.co/eNTZWi7szg
— Tyler (@SportsEngager87) July 23, 2023
RPMs of Félix Bautista's splitters today:
808, 624, 629, 546, 665 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋 https://t.co/xHz7WEIc0S— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) July 23, 2023
Good luck with that.
