bartolo colon throws 38 consecutive strikes

[west coast orange and black]

colon opened the bottom of the 5th by throwing a ball to maicer izturis. he didn't miss the strike zone again until there was one out in the 8th. the angels put several pitches in play over that span, but there was little in the way of solid contact all night.
records for consecutive strikes are tough to dig up. the elias sports bureau sent along a chart saying tim wakefield threw 30 in a row back in 1998, but it's unknown the last time anyone matched colon's feat.

"you can't even get 38 strikes out of a pitching machine," a's outfielder jonny gomes marveled.
-joe stiglich, san jose mercury news, 18 april 2012

[PlanetZoltan]

That is a really amazing feat. I remember from last year Roy Halladay threw 18 consecutive strikes to start the ballgame. I figured that had to be close to the most consecutive ever, but not even close now.

[Bothrops Atrox]

I watched every pitch on a MLB network montage. About 6 or 7 were balls that the clueless Angels batter haplessly swung at and missed or fouled off. One or two missed strike/ball calls by the ump too.

Not that what Colon did wasn't impressive (it certainly was), but he certainly did not throw 38 straight balls in the strikezone.

The better question is: how did Colon throw that many fastballs (a majority of the 30 or so "true" strikes) right down the middle without anybody teeing off?

[Zito75]

I watched every pitch on a MLB network montage. About 6 or 7 were balls that the clueless Angels batter haplessly swung at and missed or fouled off. One or two missed strike/ball calls by the ump too.

Not that what Colon did wasn't impressive (it certainly was), but he certainly did not throw 38 straight balls in the strikezone.

The better question is: how did Colon throw that many fastballs (a majority of the 30 or so "true" strikes) right down the middle without anybody teeing off?

And why is Albert Pujols barely hitting his weight? Dude is killing my pay team this year...

[Bothrops Atrox]

And why is Albert Pujols barely hitting his weight? Dude is killing my pay team this year...

He has had slow starts before. No big deal. He does have an 8 game hitting streak going.

[ipitch]

Not that what Colon did wasn't impressive (it certainly was), but he certainly did not throw 38 straight balls in the strikezone.

That's even better - making batters swing at balls that look like strikes.

[Bothrops Atrox]

That's even better - making batters swing at balls that look like strikes.

Right, that was my point. I don't even think throwing 38 straight pitches that are really in the zone is even a good idea.

[west coast orange and black]

Matthew C.: The better question is: how did Colon throw that many fastballs (a majority of the 30 or so "true" strikes) right down the middle without anybody teeing off?

well, apparently a hitter being off balancehas something to do with it. and, despite being more than just a couple'a years away from winning his cy young and being nearly 39 years of age colon is still a decent pitcher.

[Bothrops Atrox]

Matthew C.: The better question is: how did Colon throw that many fastballs (a majority of the 30 or so "true" strikes) right down the middle without anybody teeing off?

well, apparently a hitter being off balancehas something to do with it. and, despite being more than just a couple'a years away from winning his cy young and being nearly 39 years of age colon is still a decent pitcher.

Its not about Colon. I would be a little surprised if this scenario happened to any pitcher. Who said Colon wasn't a decent pitcher anymore?

[jimm]

El Gordo is really surprising me this year, nice pick up!

[RaysFan_98]

Colon will falter and start to flat line soon after the All star break just like last year.