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Hard Throwers and You: Twins Pitchers (2007-Today)

Who do you think the hardest throwers are that have been on the Twins the past handful of seasons or so? One thing is safe to say; if Joel Zumaya throws even a single pitch in the regular season in 2012, he'll probably vault to the top of the list. That got me thinking: Who are the 20 hardest throwers in Twins history, at least as far as we can get good, reliable data on?

Star-divide

So here's today's little contest/game:

1. Only one guess per comment.
2. No subsequent guesses. Someone else must post in between two of yours.
3. I will fill in correct answers with the name of the person who first got it (as soon as I can).
4. I will give a blank for the hurler's name, average fastball velocity, if he's a current Twin, how many years he is/was a Twin, how many innings he pitched as a Twin, and his Twins ERA and K/9 as helpful hints. (minimum of 10 innings as a Twin)
5. There's only good data back to 2007 using the place I'm using, so keep that in mind. NO CHEATING.
6. You must guess a name AND a position in order. (ex: Glen Perkins, fifth)

Any questions? Let's begin.

1. Jim Hoey - 95.2, No, 1 year, 24.2 IP, 5.47 ERA, 5.1 K/9 (Go Twins!)
2. Jesse Crain - 94.5, No, 7 years, 382 IP, 3.42 ERA, 6.2 K/9 (2wins87)
3. Matt Garza - 94.1, No, 2 years, 133 IP, 4.47 ERA, 7.1 K/9 (Andrew Bryz-Gornia)
4. Lester Oliveros - 93.6, Yes, 1 year, 13.1 IP, 4.05 ERA, 6.1 K/9 (Go Twins!)
5. Joe Nathan - 93.6, No, 7 years, 463.1 IP, 2.16 ERA, 10.9 K/9 (John_Locke)
6. Matt Capps - 93.3, Yes, 2 years, 92.2 IP, 3.59 ERA, 5.3 K/9 (John_Locke)
7. Bob Keppel - 93.2, No, 1 year, 54 IP, 4.83 ERA, 5.3 K/9 (Go Twins!)
8. Julio DePaula - 92.9, No, 1 year, 20 IP, 8.55 ERA, 3.6 K/9 (Go Twins!)
9. Juan Rincon - 92.5, No, 8 years, 441 IP, 3.69 ERA, 8.4 K/9 (2twins87)
10. Sean Henn - 92.4, No, 1 year, 11.1 IP, 7.15 ERA, 7.1 K/9 (John_Locke)
11. Alex Burnett - 92.4, Yes, 2 years, 98.1 IP, 5.40 ERA, 6.4 K/9 (John_Locke)
12. Boof Bonser - 91.9, No, 3 years, 391.2 IP, 5.12 ERA, 7.3 K/9 (nick5253)
13. Johan Santana - 91.8, No, 8 years, 1308.2 IP, 3.22 ERA, 9.5 K/9 (2wins87)
14. Bobby Korecky - 91.6, No, 1 year, 17.2 IP, 4.58 ERA, 3.1 K/9 (DJL44)
15. Ramon Ortiz - 91.4, No, 1 year, 91.0 IP, 5.14 ERA, 4.4 K/9 (Andrew Bryz-Gornia)
16. Matt Guerrier - 91.4, No, 7 years, 472 IP, 3.38 ERA, 5.9 K/9 (John_Locke)
17. Francisco Liriano - 91.4, Yes, 6 years, 683.1 IP, 4.19 ERA, 8.9 K/9 (2wins87)
18. Carlos Silva - 91.4, No, 4 years, 773.2 IP, 4.42 ERA, 3.6 K/9 (DJL44)
19. Carmen Cali - 91.3, No, 1 year, 21 IP, 4.71 ERA, 6.0 K/9 (DJL44)
20. Brian Bass - 91.2, No, 1 year, 68.1 IP, 4.87 ERA, 4.2 K/9 (Go Twins!)

So there you have it. Let's see what you have Twinkie Town fans!

UPDATE: Now that the list is finished....any big surprises? Thoughts?

Comment 69 comments  |  1 recs  | 

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Jim Hoey #1

throws up a little in mouth

Remember, remember the seventh of November.

by Go Twins! on Feb 15, 2012 11:07 AM EST reply actions  

Update

Updated as of Jim Hoey at #1

Thanks for reading.

by brandonwarne52 on Feb 15, 2012 11:10 AM EST reply actions  

Lester Oliveros #4

Remember, remember the seventh of November.

by Go Twins! on Feb 15, 2012 11:11 AM EST reply actions  

Updated

Through Oliveros. Good job folks!

Thanks for reading.

by brandonwarne52 on Feb 15, 2012 11:14 AM EST reply actions  

Bobby Keppel #7

Remember, remember the seventh of November.

by Go Twins! on Feb 15, 2012 11:14 AM EST reply actions  

Julio DePaula #8

I have a problem…I remember that guy….

Remember, remember the seventh of November.

by Go Twins! on Feb 15, 2012 11:16 AM EST reply actions  

I am going to quit because I pretty much know all of these

and I have them all scratched out on a piece of paper at my desk……And I have an odd memory for random Twins relievers apparently…..

Remember, remember the seventh of November.

by Go Twins! on Feb 15, 2012 11:19 AM EST reply actions  

Updated

Through DePaula, haha.

Thanks for reading.

by brandonwarne52 on Feb 15, 2012 11:21 AM EST reply actions  

Wrong

No Jon Rauch.

Thanks for reading.

by brandonwarne52 on Feb 15, 2012 11:40 AM EST up reply actions  

Jon Rauch doesn't throw THAT hard

If he was on this list, he’d be near the bottom.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." - Ferris Bueller.

by Andrew Bryz-Gornia on Feb 15, 2012 11:41 AM EST up reply actions  

One more thing though

Shouldn’t Juan Morillo be on this list? He could hurl upper 90’s averaging 97-98mph if I remember correctly.

And I have a reason for remembering this because I was at the game that he pitched his first game for the Twins against the Angels (He pitched 2 innings total – was sent down to bring Joe Mauer off the DL)

That was the game AFTER the night Kubel hit for the cycle with a Grand Slam….I remember his fastball thwacking off the glove of Redmond distinctly…And his sliders going everywhere else uncontrollably….I also thought he might be able to do something if he could get control.

Remember, remember the seventh of November.

by Go Twins! on Feb 15, 2012 11:38 AM EST reply actions  

Morillo didn't have enough innings

Those 2 innings you’re thinking of are the only 2 innings he ever pitched for the Twins (in 3 games). Brandon’s criteria has a minimum of 10 innings pitched.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." - Ferris Bueller.

by Andrew Bryz-Gornia on Feb 15, 2012 11:40 AM EST up reply actions  

Yep, this is right.

And as I recall, he gave up a bomb to Jason Bartlett, I think.

Thanks for reading.

by brandonwarne52 on Feb 15, 2012 11:41 AM EST up reply actions  

Ah yeah gotcha...I guess I skimmed the line and missed you referencing Bartlett

I need to read more perhaps, and watch less baseball and remember less random stats……….yeah probably not going to happen

Remember, remember the seventh of November.

by Go Twins! on Feb 15, 2012 11:46 AM EST up reply actions  

Ah my bad, I missed that part

I read the “if Joel Zumaya throws even a single pitch in the regular season in 2012, he’ll probably vault to the top of the list.” and assumed this included most everybody…

Remember, remember the seventh of November.

by Go Twins! on Feb 15, 2012 11:42 AM EST up reply actions  

Ha

Well that we can blame on Brandon :-)

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." - Ferris Bueller.

by Andrew Bryz-Gornia on Feb 15, 2012 11:43 AM EST up reply actions  

Yeah he has been clocked up to 100.3

Remember, remember the seventh of November.

by Go Twins! on Feb 15, 2012 11:40 AM EST up reply actions  

Matt Garza #3

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." - Ferris Bueller.

by Andrew Bryz-Gornia on Feb 15, 2012 11:46 AM EST reply actions  

Updated

Through Garza. Some toughies still up there.

Thanks for reading.

by brandonwarne52 on Feb 15, 2012 11:51 AM EST up reply actions  

Ramon Ortiz #15

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." - Ferris Bueller.

by Andrew Bryz-Gornia on Feb 15, 2012 11:53 AM EST reply actions  

Which I wouldn’t picture him as one of the top 15 hardest throwers in Twins history…

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." - Ferris Bueller.

by Andrew Bryz-Gornia on Feb 15, 2012 11:54 AM EST up reply actions  

Silva #18

Tons of IP for 4 years, can’t be any current SPs…

by nick5253 on Feb 15, 2012 11:59 AM EST reply actions  

First on that one

And I made sure someone posted in between. Took me 3 guesses

by DJL44 on Feb 15, 2012 12:00 PM EST up reply actions  

Nice

Didn’t see those replies…

by nick5253 on Feb 15, 2012 12:01 PM EST up reply actions  

Cheated on #19 & #20

Had to look them up. Those will be extremely hard for anyone to guess…

by nick5253 on Feb 15, 2012 12:05 PM EST reply actions  

#20 is Brian Bass

1 year of mediocrity, quite a few innings ate up – must be a long relief role guy…was at a couple of his games as well….unfortunately.

Remember, remember the seventh of November.

by Go Twins! on Feb 15, 2012 12:06 PM EST reply actions  

Also

Should I do a ‘softest tossers’ for next week?

Thanks for reading.

by brandonwarne52 on Feb 15, 2012 12:18 PM EST reply actions  

Yes

Livan Hernandez should be up there

Anybody remember Mark Redman from the late 90s? I think he threw soft as well.

Remember, remember the seventh of November.

by Go Twins! on Feb 15, 2012 12:22 PM EST up reply actions  

This is why I always take scouting reports with a grain of salt

I often see scouting reports saying a prospect throws “92-94”. As you can see, throwing even 92MPH is very rare.

by DJL44 on Feb 15, 2012 12:22 PM EST reply actions  

Makes me really hope Zumaya is healthy

Hard throwing pitchers are awesome to watch

Remember, remember the seventh of November.

by Go Twins! on Feb 15, 2012 12:25 PM EST up reply actions  

And even so....

the top was Jim Hoey. Hard ball ain’t all, friends.

Thanks for reading.

by brandonwarne52 on Feb 15, 2012 12:28 PM EST up reply actions  

Done

So you’ve all completed the list. If you think I’ve incorrectly attributed anything, let me know.

Otherwise, soft tossers for next week!

Thanks for reading.

by brandonwarne52 on Feb 15, 2012 12:28 PM EST reply actions  

Thanks, that was fun

soft tossers might need to be top 50

by nick5253 on Feb 15, 2012 12:48 PM EST up reply actions  

Soft Tossers=Almost every Twins Pitcher in the last 10 years

See above list, nobody throws very hard.

Remember, remember the seventh of November.

by Go Twins! on Feb 15, 2012 1:31 PM EST up reply actions  

Just for fun

What was Cuddyer’s velocity from last year?

by John_Locke on Feb 15, 2012 12:53 PM EST reply actions  

Mostly OT but...

R.A. Dickey is too an Ace

"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett
"Tell Gardy there's nobody around to protect him now." Ozzie Guillen

by less cowbell, more 'neau on Feb 15, 2012 4:55 PM EST reply actions  

In a deck of cards

I'm a proud fan of the Minnesota Twins and Dallas Cowboys!
"Life is precious and time is a key element. Let’s make every moment count and help those who have a greater need than our own." – Harmon Killebrew
I would like to see Dallas vs the Giants on Thanksgiving, Make it happen NFL!

by Jessy S on Feb 15, 2012 7:08 PM EST up reply actions  

This was interesting data.. Thanks for sharing

by Batsquid on Feb 23, 2012 8:04 AM EST reply actions  

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