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Interesting Pitches to Take Deep

"Man, that pitch was a ball.  Again." 
- Scott Baker 
(AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

More photos » by Ann Heisenfelt - AP

"Man, that pitch was a ball. Again." - Scott Baker (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

PITCHf/x doesn't have every pitch thrown, it does include 280 home runs from the 2009 regular season (through April 15).  Here are some notable pitches that were returned rather abruptly.

Fastest Pitch
Travis Hafner off Brandon League (4/12 CLE)
97.1 MPH Fastball

Slowest Pitch
Travis Snider off Kevin Slowey (4/13 MIN)
73.4 MPH Curveball

Highest Pitch
Adam LaRoche off Brian Moehler (4/13 PIT)
48.5 inches from ground

Lowest Pitch
David Wright off Walter Silva (4/13 NYN)
14.0 inches from ground

Widest Pitch
Adrian Gonzalez off Mike Pelfrey (4/13 NYN)
13.8 inches out from center

Tightest Pitch
J.J. Hardy off Edinson Volquez (4/13 MIL)
14.6 inches in from center

 

Wright and Gonzalez exchanged blows at the opening of Citi Field.  Oddly, all but one of these home runs were hit on the 13th.

Plenty of "balls" have been hit for home runs so far.  Here are the early leaders.

Most Home Runs Hit on Pitches Out of Zone
2 Jorge Cantu
2 Carlos Delgado
2 Adrian Gonzalez
2 J.J. Hardy
2 Aaron Hill
2 Albert Pujols
2 Grady Sizemore

Most Home Runs Allowed on Pitches Out of Zone
3 Scott Baker   
2 Jamie Moyer 
2 James Shields
2 Justin Verlander
2 Edinson Volquez

One of Aaron Hill's is one of Scott Baker's, and it resulted in the photo shown above.

1 recs  |  Comment 6 comments |

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Slowest Pitch
Travis Snider off Kevin Slowey (4/13 MIN)
73.4 MPH Curveball

I am amused.

by chilibean_3 on Apr 16, 2009 7:58 PM EDT reply actions   2 recs

So if fast balls get up in the high 90s, is it really that uncommon for them to leave the park?

I mean, obviously the faster it is the harder it is to hit, I’m just surprised nothing faster than 97.1 has been hit out.

by philkid3 on Apr 17, 2009 5:08 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Not many pitches go that fast to begin with

so you’re not going to see many home runs off them. I could take a look at pitch speed ranges and home run rates within

by Harry Pavlidis on Apr 17, 2009 9:13 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Not too many guys can bring it 97.1+, very few. None of those HR stats you see above will hold up by the end of the month. My prediction:

Fastest ball hit out will be Evan Longoria off of Joba Chamberlain (98.6 mph)

SuperStar Fred McGriff gives this post his "full endorsahment"!

by Molly Flogger on Apr 17, 2009 9:14 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

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