Watching Saturday’s game, I got the sense that anyone could hit Bronson Arroyo’s fastball out of Citizen’s Bank Park. I even said as much in my recap of that contest:
“On a good day, Bronson Arroyo’s fastball brushes 85 mph. He can maybe rear back and get it up to 86 or 87 as Fangraphs claims, but I’ve yet to see it happen….He’s had a magnificent career only matched by his personality, but at this point in his baseball life, Bronson Arroyo is nothing more than batting practice.”
What I neglected to mention in my Phillies walkoff-induced malaise was that Arroyo’s breaking stuff actually looked pretty good.