There arguably isn’t a more difficult task in all of professional sports than hitting big-league pitching. In today’s MLB, batters are facing pitchers who throw around triple digits with intense movement and devastating breaking balls. It seems impossible.
But that task becomes demonstrably easier when you know what pitch is coming. After all, it’s why MLB had a whole scandal about sign stealing.
That’s what made Luis Castillo’s Monday night outing so remarkably embarrassing for the Chicago White Sox hitters. Castillo decided that he was going to completely abandon his breaking pitches (slider and changeup) and only throw fastballs from the fourth inning on.
Luis Castillo just threw 47 Consecutive Fastballs. 😂 pic.twitter.com/LOv4sD2QuJ
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 22, 2023
And guess what? It worked!
Castillo threw 47 straight fastballs against the White Sox. From the fourth inning through the seventh inning, the White Sox only managed two hits and no runs despite almost certainly picking up on the trend. They knew a fastball was coming, and they simply could not make Castillo pay for it.
Castillo ended up striking out nine hitters in seven innings and allowed five hits.
The glorified bullpen session turned into a 14-2 White Sox loss, and fans roasted the White Sox for getting shut down by 47 straight fastballs.
This was how Twitter reacted
"I could throw a different kind of pitch but why"?
– Luis Castillo, probably https://t.co/se9yg1Ul1l— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 22, 2023
In those 47 straight fastballs, Castillo managed to pitch 3.2 scoreless, while striking out 5 https://t.co/MjtgcOAPK2
— That Sports Guy (@Jason_Shetler) August 22, 2023
I love this, because it's like, "Surely he won't throw another fastball, right?" and then sure enough https://t.co/2xzGMH7gv9
— Chris Towers …Is A Real Boy (@CTowersCBS) August 22, 2023
"How do you game-plan against the White Sox?"
"You don't." https://t.co/ae7Tjp6R9d— Jim Margalus (@SoxMachine) August 22, 2023
Pitching with a lead to the max. Sheesh, when you got 97-98 with movement, you can miss enough barrels.
Sox hitters going back to the dugout…
On deck "what did you see?"
Hitter "FB, he is throwing FB." https://t.co/5zeL1owMik
— Caleb Lang (@CalebLang22) August 22, 2023
God the White sox are horrible https://t.co/0aEi7vJkC3
— Clapz23 (@Clapz23) August 22, 2023
Tell me Luis Castillo doesn't respect the White Sox without telling me… https://t.co/tUysvi4kB1
— Andy (@Behind_The_Ivy) August 22, 2023
Oh my god this is hilarious https://t.co/WgALXOLBMp
— MarinersSUR (@MarinersSUR) August 22, 2023
This tells you everything you need to know about the 2023 Chicago White Sox lineup https://t.co/Mw1BBzHBc0
— Luke Hall (@OakTreeStatus) August 22, 2023
Man I'm crying he doesn't respect their lineup at all 😂😂 https://t.co/7gMRsFlvEZ
— Jimmy Hoffa (@Quady24) August 22, 2023
This is pretty wild. Basically, if you want some come get some! https://t.co/hif0zjQSYm
— Laurence Holmes (@LaurenceWHolmes) August 22, 2023
And the White Sox offense did nothing https://t.co/FHSZYYHWrs
— James Poellnitz (@Low_Key_JP) August 22, 2023
