Well, he’s no Stephen Strasburg, but this Ubaldo Jimenez fellow isn’t too shabby at pitching either -- as if JImenez’s absurd 0.78 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 7.8 K/9 weren’t enough of a clue.
Did Ubaldo Jimenez Throw The Best Pitch Ever?
But while the entire baseball world has been salivating in anticipation of the imminent Strasmas, Jimenez has continued to simply make big-league batters look foolish. And he just might have thrown the best pitch you’ll ever see on Monday night (I know, I know, the 24-hour news cycle has spawned the tendency to anoint everything as the BEST EVER, but this pitch has to be seen to be believed).
Visual evidence below the fold.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you throw a called third strike: a 99 MPH backdoor fastball with 5” of break and 10” pfx. In other words, an absolute rocket of a pitch with a ton of movement. Which should be illegal. Or at least against the laws of physics.
As any little leaguer knows, a pitch’s break depends on two factors: the ball’s velocity, and its spin. Some actual rocket scientists at NASA broke down exactly how the physics works out, but the simple version is that the faster the ball goes, the less break there is; the more spin there is, the more break. That Jimenez can nearly touch triple-digits on the radar gun while still generating enough spin on the ball to make it sink like that is beyond otherworldly; it’s inconceivable.
So enjoy Strasmas, but don’t forget there’s already a 24-year old who -- so far this year -- has been pulling off his own brand of magic.
(H/T: Beyond The Box Score)
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