Remember back in the day when, say, 95 mph used to be an elite fastball?
Yeah..... those days are done, and we got further proof of it on Wednesday afternoon.
Minnesota Twins reliever Jhoan Duran hit 104 mph on the radar gun against the San Francisco Giants, becoming just the eighth pitcher to hit that number since 2008, when pitch tracking came into effect.
Sarah Langs of MLB.com has the full list:
pitchers to throw 104.0+ pitches, pitch-tracking era (2008):
Aroldis Chapman: 66
Jordan Hicks: 12
Jhoan Duran: 3 ** all in today’s game
Ryan Helsley:
2 Mauricio Cabrera:
1 Tayron Guerrero:
1 Camilo Doval:
1 Neftali Feliz: 1
If you like velocity, that is the list for you. With three pitches at 104 or above on Wednesday, Duran already has the third most pitches of that velocity in the last 15 years, showing you how rare it is.
In addition to his elite velocity with the fastball, Duran also can hit 100 mph with a "splinker," which is a combination of a splitter and a sinker.
The Twins won the game, 7-1, as Duran tossed 0.2 innings of scoreless relief. He struck out both batters he retired.
For the season, he's 0-1 with a 1.47 ERA and has struck out 24 batters in 18.1 innings pitched.
For his career, he's appeared in 75 games and has a 1.78 ERA. He's fanned 113 batters in 86 innings.
The Twins are now 26-24 and remain in first place in the mediocre American League Central.
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