No baseball pitcher would be worth a darn without a catcher who could handle the hot fastball.
Quotes about fastball (16 Quotes)
It's important for him to remember to throw early strikes consistently. Fastball command is very important for Mike. If you have a guy who has the type of stuff he does, the ability to throw a consistent fastball is paramount.
He's a big, strong, athletic kid. He's got a good fastball with excellent movement and good sink. He's got a major-league slider. Obviously, the stuff is there and the ability is there. He needs to pitch a little bit more and get consistent outings.
It's not fear of striking out that makes me reluctant to step up to the plate. It's the fear of getting hit in the head by a 90 mph fastball, the pitcher coming off of the mound to stomp me with her cleats while I am down, the rest of the opposing team rushing out of the dugout hurling insults as they kick me and spit on me, while all along the crowd in the stands is cheering them on and laughing at my failure. So, no, it's not the fear of striking out that keeps me from stepping up to the plate.
You have to hit the fastball to play in the big leagues.
The good rising fastball is the best pitch in baseball.
Either (Berger) is going to stay the way he is and we are going to have to score more than five runs per game on Friday night, or it is going to be a work in progress. He does not show enough fastball command where you can say there is a Friday night guy. Our guy has the ability.
The kid isn't afraid to come at you. He's got some artillery with him, too -- fastball and split. He throws strikes. Aside from his natural ability, the best thing he has going for him is the fact that he puts you on your heels a little by throwing a lot of strikes.
I thought I had to show all my stuff and I almost tore the boards of the grandstand with my fastball.
The reason I think I'm a good pitcher is I locate my fastball and I change speeds. Period. That's what you do to pitch. That's what pitchers have to do to win games.
Later, I could take something off my slider and I could make my fastball sink, so I really had four pitches.
I looked for the same pitch my whole career, a breaking ball. All of the time. I never worried about the fastball. They couldn't throw it past me, none of them.
The final release point for the fastball is the tips of your fingers.
Trying to sneak a fastball past Hank Aaron is like trying to sneak the sunrise past a rooster.
It's always going to be command. Again, having the extra velocity gives you a little bit more room for error. Having the ability to reach back for a little bit more at certain times of the game, I think, is more important than having a consistent 95 mph fastball. He's shown that time and time again this spring.
He's mentally strong, keeps the ball down, has the ability to change speeds, holds runners ... he's just a fundamentally sound pitcher, ... His fastball is 88, 89 mph, and he's got a great changeup and curveball. The guy knows how to pitch.