Only five starting pitchers in Major League Baseball average 97 miles per hour with their fastballs. All of them throw that pitch more than half the time, except for Shane McClanahan of the Tampa Bay Rays. He has too many other options.
“It’s hard to be on time for 97, 87, 86, 82,” McClanahan said on Thursday, by his locker in the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium, listing the typical velocity readings for his fastball, slider, changeup and curveball.
“It’s a tough game, man, and the hitters around the league deserve so much credit. Because what they do, it seems impossible.