Pitching in the MLB is most definitely a young man’s game, which means that older pitchers need to get creative as to how they go about getting hitters out. Blue Jays veteran Hyun Jin Ryu did just that on Tuesday night with a ridiculously slow pitch that completely stumped a Rangers hitter.
Ryu has never had an overly powerful pitching style, but he has been as crafty as any pitcher in the league for years now. This has helped him tremendously in building a very respectable 10-year MLB career.
Ryu came up against Rangers slugger Nathaniel Lowe in the top of the fourth inning, where he got off a good start early by getting his two first pitches of the at-bat across for a strike.
He then dropped an absolute hammer of a curveball in for strike three, absolutely freezing Lowe at the plate who could only walk away looking silly to the dugout. The pitch officially came in at 63 miles per hour.
Blue Jays pitcher Hyun Jin Ryu completely freezes Rangers slugger Nathaniel Lowe for the strikeout with the nastiest 63 mph pitch you have ever seen… 😮pic.twitter.com/MqNi8q87t6
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) September 13, 2023
Lowe probably hasn’t seen a pitch this slow in the entirety of his MLB career, so it’s no shock that he looked completely confused when he came across it.
Fans took to social media to offer their reaction to the nasty curveball.
Wow! That was an amazing pitch! Ryu is a true master of his craft.
— bigxoidy (@bigxoidy) September 13, 2023
That’s wild. What a slow down
— Trading Aloha 🔺 (@TradingAloha) September 13, 2023
Imagine looking 95-97 then seeing that😭
— Fent (@FentMedia) September 13, 2023
Need more of this
— CP (@TellUsCP) September 13, 2023
A properly spun curveball is nearly impossible to hit
— C.R. Enn (@C_R_Enn) September 13, 2023
With all the emphasis that has been put on velocity in recent years, a properly thrown curveball has become sort of a lost art in the game of baseball. But it is nice to see someone using it to great effect in 2023.
