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?
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?