Blue Jays pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu completely froze Nate Lowe on Tuesday night when he dropped in a devastating 63 mph eephus pitch to strike out the Rangers hitter.
Lowe’s facial expressions as he walked back to the dugout were priceless, as the 28-year-old looked totally befuddled by the extreme change of speeds Ryu presented him with.
Ryu had been mixing speeds all night, and after throwing back-to-back fastballs at 87 mph, the right-hander slowed things all the way down to 63 mph in order to sit Lowe down.
Ryu had five strikeouts on the night, including two against Lowe, but none were as tactical as the slow curve he dealt to the first baseman.
Hyun Jin Ryu drops one in at 63 mph to completely freeze the hitter. pic.twitter.com/jKOjK8zoGm
— MLB (@MLB) September 13, 2023
Ryu’s pitch, which resembled a throw during batting practice or a soft toss, looked high of the strike zone on release, but ended up falling perfectly into the top of the zone as Lowe was frozen in his tracks.
The veteran right-hander doesn’t have a lot of velocity on his pitches, and his curveball dips below 70 mph on average. But he took a few extra ticks off for the pitch against Lowe, and it paid dividends, resulting in a devastating strikeout.
