The Cubs big acquisition made his first start since August 29th last night against the hated Cardinals and while his results weren't poor his fastball velocity was. Per Josh Kalk's player card Harden's fastball usually sits at 93.59 miles per hour yet last night Harden topped out at 93.5 and averaged 89.91.
I decided to take his fastball velocity from last night and compare it to a game where I knew he was healthy. Naturally I chose his July 21st game against the Arizona Diamondbacks (max speed: 95, average: 91.65) to give visual evidence to scan over.
I'm not a doctor nor a mathematics major, but there's something wrong with these two pitchers and it starts with the downed velocity in the most recent start.
Thoughts, concerns?