Twins closer Jhoan Durán throws harder than anyone in the major leagues. His average fastball velocity of 101.8 mph is the highest in baseball this season. Of the 283 fastballs he’s thrown this season, only six have been under 100 mph (three at 99.9, two at 99.4 and one at 99.2).
But Durán has never thrown a pitch as fast as the one he threw in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s game against the Mariners. With one out and two runners on, Durán threw an inside fastball to Eugenio Suárez that was clocked at a blazing 104.8 mph. It was the fastest pitch in the majors this season, surpassing Durán’s own mark of 104.6 mph on June 2. Remarkably, Suárez was actually able to make contact with it. He hit a weak grounder to shortstop and was retired for the second out.
Jhoan Duran throws a 104.8 mph fastball (the fastest pitch in MLB this season) to get a groundout, then follows it up with a strikeout on a 104 mph fastball to give the Twins a win in Seattle. ⚾️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/hSpvXJeUby
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) July 20, 2023
That wasn’t the only fireball Durán threw in that inning. His first two pitches to Suárez were 104.1 and 103.8 mph. He ended the game by striking out Mike Ford on a fastball at 104.0 mph.
In fact, not only has Durán thrown the fastest pitch of the season, 104.8 mph pitch the fastest in the majors this season, he’s thrown 11 of the 12 fastest. And five of those were on Wednesday night in Seattle.
Durán’s pitch to Suárez was also the 15th fastest pitch thrown in the majors since MLB began tracking pitch velocity in 2010, and the fastest since Jordan Hicks threw two pitches clocked at 105.0 mph on May 20, 2018.
