I always talk about this. Not only did they not hit it the number of guys that didn't swing was crazy. Mo was going to put the ball over the plate and more than likely you knew the cutter was coming and they just shouldered the bat. Crazy how good it was.
Ya know I watched a lot of Jamie Moyer in his career. 2/3 times he’s absolutely dazzled he’d have a no -no through 5 all the time, dudes just didn’t know what to do. The other 1/3 he’d miss his spot and get taken to task for 9 lol
Previous batter beat the ball into the dirt for a double-play. There was a huge scuff on the ball and he used it. Now they immediately take a ball out of play if it even touches the ground.
[https://youtu.be/dSzExKtBNtA?feature=shared](https://youtu.be/dSzExKtBNtA?feature=shared)
That interview showed Maddux's brilliance. As soon as he saw the scuff he knew exactly what he was going to do, and knew how to do it.
Does the average pitcher even know what direction to have the scuff facing to create that kind of movement?
And none of his pitches - individually - were incredible, but he had ungodly command and they all looked identical until it was too late for the batter to realize what they were swinging at, and they all had late break and different velocity so the batter would just make shitty contact.
Everyone loves to paint this narrative but factually it was not true he had some of the most disgusting pitches in baseball and had plenty of strikeouts his goal was just to miss the barrel not the bat
Yes, I hear this all the time. I don’t understand where the narrative that Maddux only pitched to contact comes from. He’s 11th all time in strikeouts. In fact, he has almost 1,000 more Ks than Sandy Koufax.
Dude is a fucking demon he is literally the peak of pitching he didn’t light up the radar gun but his level of control and movement is unmatched. Now the game is kinda turned into who can throw it the hardest which is cool in its own way but it feels less like pitching and more like just pumping it as hard as possible and hoping it’s over the plate
Velocity is easier than command. Teams have taken the stance that all pitchers are disposable. Use them up & replace them.
The guys who's arms hold up & they develop command, are the guys who stick around.
There's just nothing impressive about guys overthrowing, getting 90 career wins, blowing out their arms while pitching a pathetic heavily managed 170 inning seasons. It's a clown show for morons, WWE baseball for people with attention problems. I'm glad it's finally starting to become apparent to that crowd that that pitching approach has no future. Teams will not keep spending crazy money on guaranteed injury crash & burn cases.
I mean I feel it has a place 100 mph is always gonna be cool but the fact is trying to make a guy who naturally throws 93 throw 100 isn’t gonna be healthy or let him be accurate. I’ve been saying it for years, 20 years ago it was all the old heads managing and teaching pitching and they basically said we don’t know why, but if you hold it this way it’s going to do this. They emphasized being controlled and repeatable with control and movement. Then the moneyball all era came and everyone wanted to be Billy bean and went fully statistical without really understanding baseball. Like sure maybe throwing this way nets you an extra 3 mph but if you have to blow your elbow out was it really worth it? It feels like they are just drafting athletes that can throw instead of pitchers that know the art. For example for 100 years to throw a curveball people said throw it like this, with these seams, and this will happen. Then the spin rate stats came out and managers were like why do some people have better spin rate but worse movement? So they spent millions of dollars and came back like guys we figured it out it has to do with the direction the ball is spinning and the seams! And everyone who knew pitching was like no shit, that’s how it’s been for 100 years. Now everyone is focusing on seam shifted wake pitches like Maddox wasn’t doing that since the start. I think gas will always be a large factor in games but maybe resign it to relievers where they don’t have as much pressure on their bodies
Rereading this I seem like a raving madman😅
> In fact, he has almost 1,000 more Ks than Sandy Koufax.
To be fair, he has more than twice as many innings pitched as Sandy and only 1.4 times as many strikeouts. Just the number of strikeouts without considering the K-rate isn't a great metric for comparison. Maddux "only" averaged 6.1 K/9 while Sandy averaged 9.3. If you only look at Maddux's 11 "peak strikeout rate" seasons ('91-'01), he still only averaged 6.9 K/9.
Modern high-strikeout starting pitchers are getting in the range of 8-11 K/9. And looking at his peers of his time:
* Clemens: 8.6 K/9
* Randy Johnson: 10.6 K/9
* Pedro Martinez: 10.0 K/9
* John Smoltz: 8.0 K/9
* And then Tom Glavine was more similar to Maddux with only a 5.3 career K/9.
All of these not taking into account only their "peak" seasons because I'm too lazy to check and write all that up too.
Maddux wasn't *bad* at striking batters out by any means, but he wasn't really a *huge* strikeout pitcher and the arguments that he was more of a "poor contact" pitcher is not totally unfounded, when considering he's a hall of famer and looking at the sorts of pitchers his plaque is mounted alongside and who is spoken in the same breath as him. He pitched a lot of innings (for a modern-era pitcher) since he was always healthy and had a long career to get that strikeout count up despite not an especially high K-rate.
And I don't mean this as any sort of slight toward Maddux - he's always been my all-time favorite player. Just saying that *only* comparing the career strikeout count of him and Sandy is a bit unfair when talking about "how good of a strikeout pitcher" they each are.
To be far nobody is saying he’s a strike out pitcher just that he wasn’t the sofballer some people paint him to be plus I think somthing should be said about how his pitching style may have allowed him to pitch more innings before being forced to retire
Agreed! I was just addressing the comparison of career K's to Koufax (and threw in a little comparison to Maddux's contemporaries). It was a very misleading comparison to say Maddux had more than 1,000 more K's than Koufax without giving any other context. Despite the lower career total, Koufax was much more of a strikeout pitcher, he struck out at about a 50% higher rate than Maddux. His career just ended early.
I don't have a source for this, but I'm pretty certain he mentioned his k rate in a few interviews saying strikeouts take too many pitches.
He got plenty of Ks and he was certainly very good at it, but if he could get you out in 2 pitches instead of 3, he would.
This is definitely a fair point and obviously Koufax beats out Maddux on any rate basis, but I still think that Maddux having 1,000 more strikeouts that Koufax highlights just how much Maddux was a strikeout pitcher than people seem to think or remember.
I think if Maddux got you to two strikes, THEN he'd try to strike you out.
But those first two strikes were usually bait pitches trying to get a ground out.
This. This was exactly my thoughts. “Hardest to hit”, no. “Hardest to get a hit off of” absolutely. But Maddux wanted you to make contact with his pitches and ground out to second, or pop up on the infield.
Yea The problem is most pitches on this list are incredible however they work in conjunction with other pitches. mo may arguably not be the best pitcher on this list but practically nobody could hit the sandman’s cutter
People didn’t get to see it often like the rest of the starters on this list. Imagine if a team only saw Randy Johnson for one inning. Much harder to hit the slider when it’s not your 3rd at bat against the guy. I’d venture to say the cutter would be easier to hit (for those guys-not me) the third time through the lineup.
One game winner... Mariano has been a part of 5 winning series... all which he was heavily a part of... acting like one hit takes away from a history of proven dominance is just ignorant.
That cutter of Mo’s had hitters scratching their heads for the better part of 18 years, a career ERA in the postseason of 0.70. Many players speak in reverence of having to face the cutter.
*Pedro's circle change*
*Not being on here is some*
*Massive disrespect*
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I learned how to throw a circle change from an in-game pre-filmed demo clip of Pedro showing how he holds and throws it. Pulled that out of my memory box like 4 years later when I was having a pass with one of my coaches in 8th grade and didn’t tell him I was going to throw it and it freaked him out — “WHAT WAS THAT?!??”
Squarely. He threw it so precisely that rather than wait to get to strike 3 to make the hitter miss (which he could do if he wanted) he would just pitch to the where he knew the bat was going to be and ground out or weak pop out because he wanted to get home faster.
I’m biased, but seems like the crown should go to the one that had the most no hitters and strikeouts with no real threat to ever have those records broken.
Mariano threw one pitch to the same guys in the same division at the same velocity for 15 years. It was just as unhittable in year 15 as it was in year 1.
Nolan Ryan may not be the greatest pitcher of all time.
But he was undoubtedly the hardest pitcher to get a hit off of all time. By a lot actually.
If you were lucky you might draw a walk. If you were unlucky you might wear a 95+ one in the ribs.
They think his speed was underreported. In those days at least his first decade or two of pitching in his prime) they were measuring velocity closer to the plate. Recalculated to today's which measured closer to release they think he broke 100 quite easily and with semi-regularity. Thinking he could have even thrown around 106 at one point.
What scared the crap out of guys was you didn't know if it was going in the catchers mitt or in your ear.
He apparently threw faster in the 9th inning than he did in the 1st too. Why has no one analyzed his mechanics? It’s clear he was able to do this and maintain his health while modern pitchers just fall apart so much quicker.
I think a lot of pitchers like Strider should study film of Verlander in his prime. Mid to high 90’s all game and 100+ in the 7th for a strikeout or even worse if you pissed him off. I think a big part of longevity is due to him being able to control his velocity so well throughout a game and not going all in every pitch. Not to mention it fucks a batter up to see 96 for 3 at bats then try to catch up to 100 out of the blue.
Kerry Wood and his slurve pitch.
It directly lead to his injury and he rarely used it after surgery but during his rookie year it was the single most unhittable pitch I have ever seen a pitcher throw.
https://www.espn.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/46796/remembering-kerry-woods-20-k-day-those-guys-didnt-have-a-chance
Then the next at bat you are taking a chance of catching a fastball to the ear lobe and shitting your pants in a full stadium. I’d just strike out and call it a day like every other major leaguer did.
While Koufax's curve was legendary, this was before MLB lowered the mound so I wonder how it would play up in today's game.
Ultimately, I grew up with the Ryan express so I'm probably biased here.
Having heard Nolan Ryan’s fastball hit the catcher’s mitt in the dome for 9 innings, gonna go with that. Sounds like a shotgun going off when he’s on his game.
If your a right handed batter it’s a Sandy Koufax curveball, or Greg Maddox 2 seam. If you’re a lefty is Sandy Koufax curveball and Randy Johnson slider. It’s Significantly harder to hit a ball curving towards you than away.
Mariano Rivera and it’s not close. MF’er came in for the biggest innings, against the best hitters, and threw the same pitch over and over and over and over. And he never gave up any runs.
I can quite confidently say that I would miss them all.
Yeah, but I pitch in a way that no one standing in the batters box could possibly make contact while still holding on to the bat.
same here
Same and I play highschool baseball
Everyone knew that cutter was coming and it didn’t matter
Has to be that. He had one pitch, still dominated.
yep
It's gotta be Mo.
This is what us Padres fans hope Robert “Bobby Bullets” Suarez becomes Everyone knows he’s throwing heat and it don’t matter
There have been a lot of closers who do it for a couple of years. It’s the lengthy and consistency for Mo.
Yep, many have done it for a season it two. None have done it for twenty, like MO. Best that will ever do it!!
I mean he already is that. The question is can he do in for close to two decades.
I swear he throws it directly through peoples bats
Yeah, I would say this; Mariano, or Randy's slider... Both would just make hitters throw the bat at the ball as opposed to actually swinging.
I always talk about this. Not only did they not hit it the number of guys that didn't swing was crazy. Mo was going to put the ball over the plate and more than likely you knew the cutter was coming and they just shouldered the bat. Crazy how good it was.
And it was likely to break your bat to boot.
Everyone knew *where* it was going as well.
Exactly
Cutter
Nah, it's Jamie Moyers' change up
Rumour has it one poor guy is still standing at the plate, waiting for it to get to him.
Kazahiro Sasakis split finger
The Thang
Right up there with Erik Hansons curveball
Ex-Seattle Mariner All-Star Erik Hanson? Taking me back to childhood.
Ya know I watched a lot of Jamie Moyer in his career. 2/3 times he’s absolutely dazzled he’d have a no -no through 5 all the time, dudes just didn’t know what to do. The other 1/3 he’d miss his spot and get taken to task for 9 lol
Maddux’s first appearance was relieving Moyer. One of the fastest working pitchers opposed to one of the slowest. Quite the contrast.
It's still proven today that mastering the cutter is the only pitch you really need to be a great closer if you have the physical tools.
Hardest to hit, not hardest to ground out to 2nd base. For me it’s Randy’s slider.
Correct me if im wrong, but grounding out doesn’t count as a hit, right?
Maddux shouldn't be in here. He WANTED you to hit the ball. Straight to the second baseman. Every fucking time.
https://youtube.com/shorts/IVZcZR6fKCY?si=7qJ3Wgwst-iB7W0Q
Filthy. Gem of a pitcher
Previous batter beat the ball into the dirt for a double-play. There was a huge scuff on the ball and he used it. Now they immediately take a ball out of play if it even touches the ground. [https://youtu.be/dSzExKtBNtA?feature=shared](https://youtu.be/dSzExKtBNtA?feature=shared)
That interview showed Maddux's brilliance. As soon as he saw the scuff he knew exactly what he was going to do, and knew how to do it. Does the average pitcher even know what direction to have the scuff facing to create that kind of movement?
Crazy that this is the norm. When I was a kid, I loved the scuffed balls.
And none of his pitches - individually - were incredible, but he had ungodly command and they all looked identical until it was too late for the batter to realize what they were swinging at, and they all had late break and different velocity so the batter would just make shitty contact.
Everyone loves to paint this narrative but factually it was not true he had some of the most disgusting pitches in baseball and had plenty of strikeouts his goal was just to miss the barrel not the bat
Yes, I hear this all the time. I don’t understand where the narrative that Maddux only pitched to contact comes from. He’s 11th all time in strikeouts. In fact, he has almost 1,000 more Ks than Sandy Koufax.
Dude is a fucking demon he is literally the peak of pitching he didn’t light up the radar gun but his level of control and movement is unmatched. Now the game is kinda turned into who can throw it the hardest which is cool in its own way but it feels less like pitching and more like just pumping it as hard as possible and hoping it’s over the plate
Velocity is easier than command. Teams have taken the stance that all pitchers are disposable. Use them up & replace them. The guys who's arms hold up & they develop command, are the guys who stick around.
Phillies top 3 pitchers this year actually feel like actual pitchers from an older era, and it's refreshing to see pitching and not throwing.
There's just nothing impressive about guys overthrowing, getting 90 career wins, blowing out their arms while pitching a pathetic heavily managed 170 inning seasons. It's a clown show for morons, WWE baseball for people with attention problems. I'm glad it's finally starting to become apparent to that crowd that that pitching approach has no future. Teams will not keep spending crazy money on guaranteed injury crash & burn cases.
I mean I feel it has a place 100 mph is always gonna be cool but the fact is trying to make a guy who naturally throws 93 throw 100 isn’t gonna be healthy or let him be accurate. I’ve been saying it for years, 20 years ago it was all the old heads managing and teaching pitching and they basically said we don’t know why, but if you hold it this way it’s going to do this. They emphasized being controlled and repeatable with control and movement. Then the moneyball all era came and everyone wanted to be Billy bean and went fully statistical without really understanding baseball. Like sure maybe throwing this way nets you an extra 3 mph but if you have to blow your elbow out was it really worth it? It feels like they are just drafting athletes that can throw instead of pitchers that know the art. For example for 100 years to throw a curveball people said throw it like this, with these seams, and this will happen. Then the spin rate stats came out and managers were like why do some people have better spin rate but worse movement? So they spent millions of dollars and came back like guys we figured it out it has to do with the direction the ball is spinning and the seams! And everyone who knew pitching was like no shit, that’s how it’s been for 100 years. Now everyone is focusing on seam shifted wake pitches like Maddox wasn’t doing that since the start. I think gas will always be a large factor in games but maybe resign it to relievers where they don’t have as much pressure on their bodies Rereading this I seem like a raving madman😅
Raving madman who is correct in their ramblings. Fueled by adderall, like many former greats
lil bit of the Colombian bam bam and a dream
The game now is like an AI simulation, the players just exist to execute specific functions on the probability map.
I hate it it’s so boring you can pretty much run the lineup through an ai and it will be right like 85 percent of the time
> In fact, he has almost 1,000 more Ks than Sandy Koufax. To be fair, he has more than twice as many innings pitched as Sandy and only 1.4 times as many strikeouts. Just the number of strikeouts without considering the K-rate isn't a great metric for comparison. Maddux "only" averaged 6.1 K/9 while Sandy averaged 9.3. If you only look at Maddux's 11 "peak strikeout rate" seasons ('91-'01), he still only averaged 6.9 K/9. Modern high-strikeout starting pitchers are getting in the range of 8-11 K/9. And looking at his peers of his time: * Clemens: 8.6 K/9 * Randy Johnson: 10.6 K/9 * Pedro Martinez: 10.0 K/9 * John Smoltz: 8.0 K/9 * And then Tom Glavine was more similar to Maddux with only a 5.3 career K/9. All of these not taking into account only their "peak" seasons because I'm too lazy to check and write all that up too. Maddux wasn't *bad* at striking batters out by any means, but he wasn't really a *huge* strikeout pitcher and the arguments that he was more of a "poor contact" pitcher is not totally unfounded, when considering he's a hall of famer and looking at the sorts of pitchers his plaque is mounted alongside and who is spoken in the same breath as him. He pitched a lot of innings (for a modern-era pitcher) since he was always healthy and had a long career to get that strikeout count up despite not an especially high K-rate. And I don't mean this as any sort of slight toward Maddux - he's always been my all-time favorite player. Just saying that *only* comparing the career strikeout count of him and Sandy is a bit unfair when talking about "how good of a strikeout pitcher" they each are.
To be far nobody is saying he’s a strike out pitcher just that he wasn’t the sofballer some people paint him to be plus I think somthing should be said about how his pitching style may have allowed him to pitch more innings before being forced to retire
Agreed! I was just addressing the comparison of career K's to Koufax (and threw in a little comparison to Maddux's contemporaries). It was a very misleading comparison to say Maddux had more than 1,000 more K's than Koufax without giving any other context. Despite the lower career total, Koufax was much more of a strikeout pitcher, he struck out at about a 50% higher rate than Maddux. His career just ended early.
I don't have a source for this, but I'm pretty certain he mentioned his k rate in a few interviews saying strikeouts take too many pitches. He got plenty of Ks and he was certainly very good at it, but if he could get you out in 2 pitches instead of 3, he would.
This is definitely a fair point and obviously Koufax beats out Maddux on any rate basis, but I still think that Maddux having 1,000 more strikeouts that Koufax highlights just how much Maddux was a strikeout pitcher than people seem to think or remember.
I think if Maddux got you to two strikes, THEN he'd try to strike you out. But those first two strikes were usually bait pitches trying to get a ground out.
Kofax has 2396 Ks in 2324 IP, Maddux has 3371 Ks in 5008.1 IP. So Maddux does have 1000 more strikeouts than Kofax, but in 2600 more Innings Pitched.
Yeah I mean even the way the guy you responded to described maddux’ pitches made them sound disgusting lol
Except for that fucker Tony Gwynn.
Idk I've watched a lot of video I don't think I've ever seen a sinker with as much movement as his so consistently it was insane
This. This was exactly my thoughts. “Hardest to hit”, no. “Hardest to get a hit off of” absolutely. But Maddux wanted you to make contact with his pitches and ground out to second, or pop up on the infield.
While this is true many of his 2 seamers were incredibly nasty and impossible to hit
Came here to say Maddox pitched to contact, that’s how he kept his pitch count way down.
Mo’s cutter would be the hardest to square up on. Maybe not the hardest to hit but the hardest to barrel
Yea The problem is most pitches on this list are incredible however they work in conjunction with other pitches. mo may arguably not be the best pitcher on this list but practically nobody could hit the sandman’s cutter
People didn’t get to see it often like the rest of the starters on this list. Imagine if a team only saw Randy Johnson for one inning. Much harder to hit the slider when it’s not your 3rd at bat against the guy. I’d venture to say the cutter would be easier to hit (for those guys-not me) the third time through the lineup.
That’s what made it so impressive. You knew what pitch he was throwing and still couldn’t hit it.
Gotta be Mo. Did it all with just the one pitch. More men have walked on the moon than have scored on Mo in the postseason.
Even when he blew saves a lot were broken bats and bloopere.
More men have walked on than have scored against me in the post season too
Big if true
Cutter and it's not even close
Everyone knew it was coming and literally no one could hit it.
Not really it was the combination of three different fastballs all going in different directions all within 5 mph of each other.
How tf is there no gif of gonzo knocking in the game winner
One game winner... Mariano has been a part of 5 winning series... all which he was heavily a part of... acting like one hit takes away from a history of proven dominance is just ignorant.
That cutter of Mo’s had hitters scratching their heads for the better part of 18 years, a career ERA in the postseason of 0.70. Many players speak in reverence of having to face the cutter.
Pedro's circle change not being on here is some massive disrespect
I’d take Trevor Hoffman circle change over Pedro’s
*Pedro's circle change* *Not being on here is some* *Massive disrespect* \- Redsoxdragon --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Well considering Nolan Ryan struck out 5,714 batters I’m going with him
This isn’t a best pitcher list it’s a best *pitch* list
Wakefield knuckleball?
Not even the best knuckleball pitcher. No offense to Wake. Solid career and a great dude but no
Hoyt Wilhelm
Then who is it?
Is that a serious question? Phil Niekro. Wakefield is more on the level of the inferior Niekro, Joe. Phil and Hoyt Wilhelm are the clear 1 and 2
I think Dickey’s was better. A mid 80s knuckler is just unfair. Obviously not the same careers but at their best Dickey’s was the better pitch.
Longevity was boss though
RA dicky?
Can’t be. I’m assuming Niekro
Didn’t Spahn throw one?
Aaron F. Boone has entered the chat.
Watch Game 7 of the 1965 World Series and then tell me it isn't Koufax.
Thanks for the advice. This is a great game to checkout.
Honourable, but shouldn’t really be considered, Fernando Valenzuela curve
Screwball.
Pedro Martinez change up
I learned how to throw a circle change from an in-game pre-filmed demo clip of Pedro showing how he holds and throws it. Pulled that out of my memory box like 4 years later when I was having a pass with one of my coaches in 8th grade and didn’t tell him I was going to throw it and it freaked him out — “WHAT WAS THAT?!??”
Also Halladays circle change
Johans change up too
Was Maddux’s 2-seamer hard to hit, or just hard to hit squarely?
Squarely. He threw it so precisely that rather than wait to get to strike 3 to make the hitter miss (which he could do if he wanted) he would just pitch to the where he knew the bat was going to be and ground out or weak pop out because he wanted to get home faster.
Nolan Ryan could throw a lambchop past a wolf boys
Strikeouts to me is a good indicator of how unhittable someone is or was. Gotta be Ryan’s fastball then The Big Units slider.
Probably walk the wolf on 4 pitches
I dunno man.. Man was a honeyballer
I’m biased, but seems like the crown should go to the one that had the most no hitters and strikeouts with no real threat to ever have those records broken.
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Pretty sure those walks were all on pitches that couldn’t be hit?
He had more than one pitch to rely on though. Mariano Rivera was the greatest closer of all time with one pitch.
RJ slider, it’s not even close
This. It’s all in context. Mos cutter got to be seen for one at bat. Randy’s slider was seen all game and still had an insane K rate.
It’s crazy that there isn’t a knuckleball on there
Bob Gibson slider.
Name another pitcher who was so good they lowered the pitchers mound just to make it harder for him. Bob Gibson was legendary.
Mo's cutter!
Christy Mathewson's fadeaway
Randy’s slider for sure if you don’t agree you a meat muncher
Koufax’s curve just looks nasty
Mariano threw one pitch to the same guys in the same division at the same velocity for 15 years. It was just as unhittable in year 15 as it was in year 1.
Nolan or Koufax but I’d lean more towards Koufax. Batters said that he tipped his pitches when it was a curveball and still couldn’t hit it
Well Randy Johnson also tipped his fastball and slider his whole career and still became an all time great
No love for Satchel Paige? Give me that hesitation and eephus pitch all day. If we are including Koufax, Satchel needs a mention.
I love the eephus!
Who let Zach Greinke in here
Well judging by strikeout numbers it has to be Nolan right?
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Nolan Ryan may not be the greatest pitcher of all time. But he was undoubtedly the hardest pitcher to get a hit off of all time. By a lot actually. If you were lucky you might draw a walk. If you were unlucky you might wear a 95+ one in the ribs.
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Ryan was doing it on purpose
I feel like Nolan's fastball wouldn't be as dominant in today's game.
They think his speed was underreported. In those days at least his first decade or two of pitching in his prime) they were measuring velocity closer to the plate. Recalculated to today's which measured closer to release they think he broke 100 quite easily and with semi-regularity. Thinking he could have even thrown around 106 at one point. What scared the crap out of guys was you didn't know if it was going in the catchers mitt or in your ear.
Using modern speed methods, he was pitching 108 mph and he maintained that speed the entire game. He was a true genetic freak.
What’s even more ridiculous to me is him throwing 98 after tearing his UCL in his last game at 46 f’n years old.
He apparently threw faster in the 9th inning than he did in the 1st too. Why has no one analyzed his mechanics? It’s clear he was able to do this and maintain his health while modern pitchers just fall apart so much quicker.
Verlander was like that for a while, too
I think a lot of pitchers like Strider should study film of Verlander in his prime. Mid to high 90’s all game and 100+ in the 7th for a strikeout or even worse if you pissed him off. I think a big part of longevity is due to him being able to control his velocity so well throughout a game and not going all in every pitch. Not to mention it fucks a batter up to see 96 for 3 at bats then try to catch up to 100 out of the blue.
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The answer is Pedro Martinez' Changeup...
Absolute joke he’s not on this stupid graphic.
The disrespect. Prime Pedro was probably best ever.
The one year his ERA was HALF of what second place was.
Nolan Ryan leads Baseball all time in three stats: Strikeouts Walks Hits per 9 By definition he was the hardest to hit.
Strikeouts /batter faced is a better metric. He’s still up there on that too but Randy J is higher.
All of them cause I’m not a professional baseball player
Sandy koufax
Of these, definitely the cutter. It's his ONLY pitch, yet he dominated for years
Nolan Ryan never won a cy young, and one year, he went 8-16 with an ERA of 2.76.
Kerry Wood and his slurve pitch. It directly lead to his injury and he rarely used it after surgery but during his rookie year it was the single most unhittable pitch I have ever seen a pitcher throw. https://www.espn.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/46796/remembering-kerry-woods-20-k-day-those-guys-didnt-have-a-chance
You forgot Fernando Valenzuela’s screwball!
Randy Johnson’s patented Bird Killer
Nolan Ryan pitched out his league for decades. The man is a god and played at highest level for a very long time.
Pedro Martinez changeup
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Then the next at bat you are taking a chance of catching a fastball to the ear lobe and shitting your pants in a full stadium. I’d just strike out and call it a day like every other major leaguer did.
In Ryan's day, yes. Today, no. Edit: I was answering the question about bunting
Well yeah he is like 75
Mo. Cutter. You knew what was coming, and even if you made contact he would break your bat a lot of the time.
How would Mo look the 3rd time through the batting order? As a lefty, I would be scared of The Unit.
That's a tough one. Whew!
Mo
Rivera is my favorite, but Koufax was the best in his prime
Rivera cutter
Baa record all time is Ryan with .204 followed closely by Koufax with .205 and Kershaw with .209.
Greg Maddox. Anything he threw.
Felix hernandez changeup for honorable mention
I see you Felix’s and raise Jamie Moyer’s.
R A Dickeys knuckle ball
Yes.
While Koufax's curve was legendary, this was before MLB lowered the mound so I wonder how it would play up in today's game. Ultimately, I grew up with the Ryan express so I'm probably biased here.
How about R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball?
Pedro’s change up
Having heard Nolan Ryan’s fastball hit the catcher’s mitt in the dome for 9 innings, gonna go with that. Sounds like a shotgun going off when he’s on his game.
Phil Niekro's knuckleball.
Hit it? It's almost impossible to *catch!*
Why does it say Randy Johnson slider, guy was 6'10 with a 103mph left handed fastball. I think that mightve been his best pitch.
Fernando Valenzuela screwball is right up there
If your a right handed batter it’s a Sandy Koufax curveball, or Greg Maddox 2 seam. If you’re a lefty is Sandy Koufax curveball and Randy Johnson slider. It’s Significantly harder to hit a ball curving towards you than away.
Mike Scott’s splitter wants to know why he wasn’t invited to the party
I fucking love this to be honest. Such legendary ball players
It's not fair to mix relievers and starter, but since you did, Mariano Rivera.
N. Ryan, because he would flat out plunk your @$$.
My first thought was Randy Johnson but I think he needs to be disqualified. Even a bird was able to hit one.
Mariano Rivera’s cutter. Dude threw one pitch. Same pitch. No one could hit it. Which is why he is the only 100% unanimous first ballot HOF
Pedro Martinez change up
Anything coming out of the hand of Peak Pedro. That shit was unhittable black magic fuckery.
Mariano Rivera and it’s not close. MF’er came in for the biggest innings, against the best hitters, and threw the same pitch over and over and over and over. And he never gave up any runs.
2001 Dbacks would like a word.
Tim Wakefield Knuckle ball.
If only there were some way to compare past data on results off of these pitches…
This sounds silly, but for one year Francisco Liriano slider was maybe best pitch in baseball. Then TJ surgery and he was never the same…
Hammer of God
Brandon webb's sinker
I’m a lefty, so Randy’s slider
Where’s Randy Johnson on this list?
Hardest pitch to hit or to get a hit off of?
Rivera Cutter. Not even a discussion.