In the span of five pitches Sunday at Busch Stadium, Jordan Hicks not only ended one of the longest on-base streaks in Phillies history by striking out (sure, sure, wild pitch) Odubel Herrera, he also threw the five fastest pitches in baseball this season. This much you know. But there’s more. Within that one at-bat there was a window into the world of high-velocity pitching, its results, its accelerating place in the game, its recent history, and ultimately its risk.
Against one batter, Hicks not only threw one of the fastest strikes ever recorded at a ballpark (105.