Are MLB pitchers becoming bionic? 105mph Fastball....sick!!!
What in the wide world of sports is going on with today’s pitchers in Major League Baseball?! Cardinals pitcher Jordan Hicks throws two pictches in the same game that hit 105mph on the radar gun. Holy Smokes....back in the 90’s when I played I got an at bat against John Burke when we played the Florida Gators while they were #1 in the Nation. Burke, who was a first round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies threw 93-96 in those days and was unanimously considered the hardest thrower in College and certainly had one of the top five fastballs in the Big Leagues as well.
I can assure you that 95mph is very difficult to hit and in the 90’s era a 90-92 MPH as a high school senior was certainly enough to get you drafted. Today TONS of pitchers in high school can throw gas in the low 90’s but the difference between 95 and 105 is a country mile apart! Watching Jordan Hicks highlights is a blur. The guy not only works fast on the bump, his fastball is nitro infused propane! What are the trainers, workouts, supplements and diet doing to increase the speed of a Baseball by light years in the last decade? If pitchers get any better we may see the day where a hitter just can not hit an object coming that fast from 60 feet away. Below is a video of the record speed pitches that were recorded as a new MLB record, watch it and see for yourself. Standing at the plate and seeing 95 is scary. It sounds like a snake hissing when it’s coming at you and when it hits the catchers mitt, the explosion of the the leather can be a little intimidating because you rarely get to see anyone with that kind of arm strength. If you get one thrown at your ear hole, you have no time to make a decision to get out of the way.
The fact that his fastball is 105 and his sinker is +103 makes Jordan Hicks absolutely lethal to have on your team. His tendency to be a little wild makes him even more dangerous because hitters can not really dig into the batters box for fear of loosing all their feelings....literally.
I would not want to see anything come at me 100+ mph
Batterrrr up.
That's unbelievable. You can't hit what you can't see. I don't know anything about this guy, but if he's wild he could hurt someone very badly with a pitch. Training regimens and knowledge of nutrition have improved, but the players themselves continue to get bigger, stronger and faster. I think that's one of the reasons we see more injuries in football. When I was a kid watching the NFL, offensive linemen were about 260 and linebackers were generally in the 220s or so. Players who could run 4.7 in the 40-yard dash were considered fast. Guys that size who play those positions would have a hard time making an elite college football team these days.
Tremendo @broncnutz saludos desde Venezuela.
waw the best first baller I have ever seen. How could he?......He is really amazing man..
He reached this speed took many hours of practice and a proper food, diet, and supplements.
This is really bionic.
if he continues to go like this, he is gonna break 130 MPH too!
who knows?
is this humanly possible? or is the ball modified somewhat?
Check out the documentary on Netflix titled: Fastball. There's a big difference at where the fastball is clocked now opposed to where they clocked them in times past. They used to be clocked a few feet from home plate, whereas, now they're clocked coming out of the pitchers hand. This is how Aroldis Chapman's pictch was recorded in 2010 clocking in at 105.1 mph. However, that same pitch clocked a few feet in front of home plate clocked in the upper 90's. Still lightning fast no doubt, but there's a little more to the "fastest fastballs" being registered now and their comparison to the fastest of our past.
This sounds familiar like I may have seen it as well. I also remember them comparing the big arms in the old days to modern throwers to try and determine who really threw the fastest ball in MLB history. If I remember right they came to the conclusion that even though the placement of the radar gun is different that Aroldis Chapman still had the fastest pitch ever and that modern pitchers are consistently hitting higher numbers.
This is a universal phenomenon in sports these days. In every sport, the athletes are getting bigger, faster and stronger. The level of training that these athletes do is light years ahead of what they were doing 10 and 20 years ago. Not only is the training getting more sophisticated, it is becoming more specific to the sport. Gone are the days of "hitting the gym". Athletes are participating in very directed and specific training regiments with a variety of targeted activities. Nutrition plans are helping fuel athletes better than ever and the use of trainers and sports psychologists is par for the course. To top it all off, these athletes are getting very serious about their sports at a younger age now. These athletes are being developed at these high levels earlier than in the past and the results are bigger stronger athletes. It is part of why I personally think that the NFL still has rising numbers when it comes to concussions even though they are trying to implement ways to reduce them. There isn't more contact in the sport, the players are just hitting harder than in the past. Bigger and stronger means hitting harder.
Precisely this. I work in the Sports Performance industry and these days we see athletes from all sports taking advantage of physical training, proper nutrition plans, and physical therapists. If you want to compete at the highest levels these things are no longer options they are a must.
Seems as if more and more guys are able to throw 100+ MPH in the recent years. Hicks has struggled with control (14 BB in only 20 IP) which is not good for a reliever.
Eventually hitters can catch up to these fastballs, I'll take a pitcher who can locate his pitches over the young flamethrowers coming up (like Kyle Hendricks).