Jordan Hicks Threw The Season's Two Fastest Pitches

Reliever Jordan Hicks, who plays for some crummy team, threw record-setting gas Tuesday night against White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson. Five of the six pitches in that plate appearance were above 101 mph, and the pitch at the top of this post came in at 102.0 mph, the fastest this season. Anderson couldn’t handle it, and neither could catcher Yadier Molina.

Hicks unwittingly brushed back Anderson with another pitch, at 101.9 mph the second-fastest pitch of the season:

Although Anderson looked hilariously overmatched in these highlights from the Cardinals’ 3-2 win, he won the battle by drawing a walk. Hicks had the speed, but his control was a little iffy in the matchup:

Hicks’s radar-gun readings supplanted Marlins righty Tayron Guerrero, who threw a 101.8-mph four-seamer just the previous day. The St. Louis reliever currently has eight of the 10 fastest pitches of 2018, though he should enjoy it while it lasts. That velocity’s impressive, but there’s one guy who’s topped that by a significant margin in the previous three seasons. He can throw fireballs with movement, too: