Hunter Greene appeared to tie an MLB record Thursday.
The “record” was short-lived, however.
The Cincinnati Reds flamethrower threw what initially seemed to be the fastest pitch in recent MLB history to Pittsburgh Pirates star Andrew McCutchen in the third inning. How fast was the pitch? Statcast initially said it was clocked at 105.2 mph, which according to ESPN would have tied a record since Statcast began tracking pitches in 2007. Aroldis Chapman turned the feat in 2016.
105.2 mph from Hunter Greene! ⚾️🔥🔥🔥😲 pic.twitter.com/j1kac2tRjC
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) March 30, 2023
Then, a funny thing happened — Statcast backed away from the 105.2 mph claim, revising the estimate down to 89 mph.
Given Greene’s reputation, no one would have been surprised to see him top 105 mph. Still, the pitch, and the resulting confusion led to some interesting comments on Twitter. The popular site Céspedes Family BBQ noted, “Because Hunter Greene is one of the very few people on the planet who you could actually imagine throwing 105, we all still had to be like “WELL MAYBE!!!”
so Statcast has already taken it down because it was a definitely an error but the best part about this is that because Hunter Greene is one of the very few people on the planet who you could actually imagine throwing 105, we all still had to be like "WELL MAYBE!!!" https://t.co/wytjLVXWX2
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) March 30, 2023
Could be a misread, which is why I added the ?
But he’s been 101-102 consistently.— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 30, 2023
juiced gun, same thing probably happened with hicks the other day, but I wanna believe that more because he’s done it before and hit 104 last year.
— Adam (@Korsakov97) March 30, 2023
We shouldn’t be glorifying 100+ mph pitches. That is a big reason why all these pitchers end up hurting themselves and going on the IL. Nice to look at but not good for the game.
— Donnie Stephenson (@DonaldStevie25) March 30, 2023
So it’s confirmed not 105? I already blew up a group chat with it
— Mike P (@MVPizzle) March 30, 2023
