Watch: Cardinals prospect has absolutely filthy pitch

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Cardinals prospect has absolutely filthy pitch

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Steve DelVecchio | Last updated May 29, 2024 1:00 PM ET

St. Louis Cardinals prospect Ettore Guilianelli has a long way to go before reaching the majors, but he may throw the filthiest pitch in all of baseball.

Giulianelli, a reliever for Single-A Palm Beach in the Florida State League, went viral for a ridiculous pitch he threw on Saturday. The right-hander came on to pitch with Palm Beach trailing 7-1 in the sixth inning of their game against the Lakeland Flying Tigers. With a 0-1 count against Lakeland’s Jose De La Cruz, Guilianelli threw a 74-mph breaking ball that had mind-boggling movement on it.

The pitch drew a great deal of attention for good reason:

We have NO idea how Cards prospect Ettore Giulianelli throws this pitch. pic.twitter.com/S20J6h9HMv

— MLB (@MLB) May 28, 2024

Sam Dykstra of MiLB.com shared some of the insane stats about the pitch. Giulianelli’s breaking ball, essentially a screwball, dropped 58 inches, moved eight inches to Giulianelli’s pitching arm side, and had a spin rate of 2,192 rpm. Since pitch tracking began in MLB in 2008, only 27 pitches have met all those criteria. Giulianelli has thrown five such pitches in his 12 2/3 innings this season.

This pitch dropped 58 inches and moved 8 inches to Giulianelli's armside. It had 2,192 rpm of spin.

In the pitching tracking era (since 2008), there have been only 27 total MLB pitches with 55+ drop, 8+ armside, 2100+ rpm.

Giulianelli has thrown 5 in the FSL this year alone. https://t.co/bJI0JLjSii

— Sam Dykstra (@SamDykstraMiLB) May 28, 2024

Dykstra also noted that three knuckleballers — Tim Wakefield, R.A. Dickey, and Steven Wright — led MLB in pitches with 55-plus inches of drop and eight-plus inches of arm-side movement since 2008. Giulianelli has somehow been getting similar movement on a screwball thrown with bite.

Giulianelli has a 4.26 ERA with 21 strikeouts but a whopping 19 walks through 12 2/3 innings this season. If he could ever put it all together, that screwball would be deadly at any level of baseball.

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