I nearly fell out of my chair when lefty reliever Kyle Ryan’s fastball was sitting at just 86 mph at the start of the season. That’s an alarming drop of full four ticks from his 2019 average, something that even the extended layoff might not full explain. However, Ryan’s fastball velocity has been trending up ever since.
After initially throwing from 85-88 mph, he has been hammering the zone with fastballs north of 90 mph, just as he did throughout the 2019 season.
It’s possible that a few of Ryan’s cutters, which he usually throws in the mid-90’s have been classified as four-seamers and hurt his average.