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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:

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.