The Pecan Park Eagle

Ode to Forrest Whitley’s 110 MPH Pitch

He was coming ‘oer the shoulder

Firing 110-miles per hour

When the needle on his belt buckle broke

He landed in the grass

With his pants below his ass

And he now wears stretch-waist unis

~ That’s no joke.

Astros pitching prospect Forest Whitley hit 110 mph in what they call a pulldown exercise Tuesday afternoon at a winter camp program.

So what? ~ This is one of those questions that’s best answered with a question. ~ How many pitchers do we know who can throw even one pitch at the measured rate of 110 mph?

Anybody who can throw even one 110 mph pitch ~ even if it happens in a winter camp for minor league players ~ is a guy a club should want to hold on to through several Christmases or Easters ~ just for the simple sake of finding out if that’s really the phenom’s top speed ~ and in celebration and commitment to the idea that the most joyous Christmas or golden egg Easter is yet to be ~ and in the clear understanding that one time alone is enough to pull the trigger on one of baseball’s most famous bobble head creations on record.

********************

Here’s how it happened ~ and how Jake Mintz @ Cespedes BBQ covered it this afternoon:

One of the coolest parts about being a professional baseball player must be having the ability to throw a baseball outlandishly hard. Whether it’s across the infield, with a crow hop from the outfield or off the mound, chucking a ball with triple-digit velocity has to be a wonderfully exhilarating feeling that most us of will never get to experience.

Tuesday afternoon, Astros top pitching prospect Forrest Whitley harnessed all of his baseballing power to wind up and chuck a ball a whopping 110 mph.

Obviously, this wasn’t on the mound, so we shouldn’t expect Whitley to be pumping 110 whenever he makes it to the bigs (presumably this upcoming season at some point) — but this is still a super impressive feat. This particular pitching technique is usually referred to as a “pulldown” and is meant to increase a pitcher’s velocity when they step back on the mound if it’s carried out regularly.

Whitley’s pulldown wasn’t quite as fast as Indians hurler Trevor Bauer, who threw a ball 116.9 mph last offseason, but Whitley still has a few years to catch up to Cleveland’s most incessant Twitter fiend.

~ Jake Mintz @Cespedes BBQ

Link to original Mintz article and its pictures:

https://www.mlb.com/cut4/astros-prospect-forrest-whitley-throws-baseball-110-mph/c-301707412

******************************

Bill McCurdy

Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher

The Pecan Park Eagle