Detroit Tigers: 2020 Statcast Standouts

Detroit Tigers Pitch Velocity

Fastest Pitch

Gregory Soto Sinker – 100.4 mph

Everyone loves a nice fastball, and it’s pretty awesome when a pitcher unlocks that extra digit in the velocity column. Gregory Soto was credited with six 100-mph pitches this year, but five of those were rounded up to 100.

Only the pitch above actually crested triple digits, and what a pitch it was. Soto was one of 29 MLB pitchers to reach triple-digits in 2020, and he became the 11th Detroit Tigers hurler to do it since 2008.

Slowest Pitch

Matthew Boyd Curveball – 70.0 mph

Slow pitches aren’t quite as exciting as fast pitches, but they can still be fun. Matthew Boyd actually claimed the 31 slowest offerings by a Detroit Tigers pitcher in 2020, and most of them were balls. In the reel above you see his three slowest pitches of the season, followed by his slowest pitch that was put in play, and his slowest pitch to earn a swing and miss.

If you’re curious, the only other Tigers pitchers to throw under 75 mph last year were Tarik Skubal (six times), David McKay (once), and outfielder Travis Demeritte (once). Boyd’s 70-mph pitch was scorching compared to the slowest offering of his career, this 66.6 mph lollipop against the Red Sox in June of 2018.