In baseball, the term flamethrower is used to describe a pitcher that has a really fast fastball. The Diamondbacks have 3 guys that possess fastballs that average over 95 MPH. Can you guess who they are?
Diamondbacks RP Kevin Ginkel averages 96 MPH on his 4-seam fastball
Kevin Ginkel knows a thing or two about bringing the heat. In 2022, Ginkel mainly threw two pitches: A 4-seam fastball and a slider. Ginkel threw his blazing 4-seam fastball 62% of the time and his slider he threw 38% of the time. Though his 4-seam blew past hitters from time to time, it also got hit in a big way. Here are the stats of opposing hitters against Ginkel’s fastball from a year ago: .279 batting average, .397 slugging percentage, .361 on-base percentage. Those numbers are not great. Against his slider, however, hitters struggled: .186 batting average, .233 slugging percentage, .205 on-base percentage…
Ginkel might look to make his pitch combo more 50-50 this season instead of 60-40 like it was last year. Despite his fastball getting hit hard, he put together a solid season in 2022. He went 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP over the course of 29.1 relief innings…
Diamondbacks SP Drey Jameson averages 96 MPH on his 4-seam fastball
Like Ginkel, Jameson sits around 96 MPH when throwing his heater. Jameson mainly relied on 3 pitches in 2022: A 4-seam fastball, a sinker, and a slider. He threw his 4-seam 34% of the time, his sinker 28% of the time, and his slider 25% of the time. All of his pitches put up solid numbers but his slider was exceptional. Jameson threw his slider 92 times last season and here is how hitters fared against it: .105 batting average, .263 slugging percentage, .180 on-base percentage. He also recorded a -3 run value on his slider as well as a -3 run value on his fastball…
Jameson had a very good debut season for Arizona. In 4 starts he went 3-0 with a 1.48 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. He also averaged a strikeout per inning. It is still a toss-up as to who will earn the 5th spot in the rotation, but if I were a betting man, I would put my money on Jameson…
Diamondbacks RP Miguel Castro averages 98 MPH on his sinker
Ah yes, the best for last, Miguel Castro throws BB bullets. Castro boasts the fastest pitch on this Arizona roster; a 98 MPH sinker. In 2022, Castro relied on 3 pitches; a slider, a sinker, and a changeup. He threw his slider 44% of the time, his sinker 36% of the time, and his changeup roughly 20% of the time. His slider is his best pitch but a season ago, none of his pitches posted spectacular numbers. In 2021, however, his slider posted a -7 run value and hitters were hitting .131 against it…
Castro will be a great addition to the bullpen this season. Over the last two years, Castro has an 8-4 record with a 3.62 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 99.1 innings…