White Sox shortstop makes relief appearance, gets an out on a 40 mph pitch
How slow can you go?
On Friday night, Twins catcher Willlians Astudillo mopped up in a 10-3 loss to the Angels and threw a 51 mph pitch.
White Sox shortstop Danny Mendick pitched in relief Monday during the Red Sox’s 11-4 win in Boston, and he offered a pitch that was considerably slower. It was a 40 mph pitch, which is nowhere near the speed of the kids throwing in the Little League World Series.
Nevertheless, Mendick got Boston’s Enrique Hernandez on the pitch to finish off a scoreless inning.
Here is his entire eighth-inning appearance:
And here is another look at the 40 mph pitch:
40 mph change (if it were 39, it wouldn’t have made it-Steve Stone!) pic.twitter.com/LlGMRuDnXy
— RollnOn (@craig_frankel) April 19, 2021
Baseball Savant shows that 19 pitchers have thrown a pitch 100 mph or more this season.
Only five players have thrown a pitch slower than 60 mph this year, and four are position players: Mendick, Astudillo, Nationals second baseman Hernan Perez and A’s outfielder Ka’ai Tom.
The other: Houston’s Zack Greinke, the former Royals pitcher.
Baseball Savant also shows that only one person has thrown a pitch 40 mph or slower in the past five years: Utilityman Brock Holt with the Nationals a year ago.