Giants reliever throws 16 pitches of at least 100 mph in major-league debut
If you happened to miss Erik Cordier's big-league debut Wednesday, you're forgiven. Because even if you were watching, there's a good chance you didn't see a single pitch.
The San Francisco Giants hard-throwing right-hander was serving up gas to the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, making up for a 10-year run in the minors with literally one of the fastest innings in baseball this season.
Cordier fastballs in first MLB inning: 100, 100, 101, 101, 100, 100, 99, 100, 101, 100, 100, 100, 98, 101, 101, 99, 99, 100, 98, 101, 101.
— Alex Pavlovic (@AlexPavlovic) September 3, 2014
That's 16 of his 25 total pitches recorded at 100 miles per hour or more (per MLB.com's Gameday), which according to BaseballSavant.com, is more than almost every pitcher in baseball has throw this season.
| PLAYER | 100-MPH PITCHES | % OF PITCHES |
|---|---|---|
| Aroldis Chapman | 331 | 42.3% |
| Kelvin Herrera | 46 | 4.8% |
| Yordano Ventura | 34 | 1.4% |
| Carlos Martinez | 18 | 1.5% |
| Erik Cordier | 16 | 64% |
| Ken Giles | 7 | 1.2% |
Cordier said he was pitching on adrenaline, evidenced by a walk, hit batter and sailing a fastball over catcher Buster Posey's head. He completed his first inning in the majors with a scoreless frame and a strikeout.
His post-game comments via CSNBayArea.com:
I really did the absolute cardinal sin. I said, 'OK, middle-middle,' and threw it as hard as I could. It rode away from me. I wanted to finish with a really nice exclamation point.
Watch Cordier's first major-league strikeout here, consisting of five 100-mph fastballs to Rockies outfielder Drew Stubbs.
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