CHICAGO – Because of where the scoreboards are positioned at Wrigley Field, Marlins reliever Josh Ekness had a clear view of his velocity Tuesday while turning back toward the mound following each return throw from catcher Joe Mack.
The radar gun read:
101.1 mph
100.1 mph
Ekness did double takes. The ball didn’t feel particularly different coming out of his right hand on a chilly first night of autumn, but Ekness appeared to be bringing the heat in an eventual 8-2 win over the Cubs in 12 innings.
Hours earlier, Ekness and fellow reliever Victor Vodnik had been talking about Vodnik recently hitting 101.3 mph on the radar gun – something Ekness hadn’t done since High-A ball in 2024.
“It was really ironic because then five hours later, I go out and first pitch was 101, and I was like, ‘Oh, it's coming out good today,’” Ekness said.
With the game tied at 2 in the 11th inning, Ekness continued to attack the zone and challenge veteran Carson Kelly:
101 mph four-seamer
100.8 mph four-seamer
87.3 mph sweeper
102 mph sinker (strikeout)
Ekness kept the Cubs off the scoreboard by also fanning Dansby Swanson on a triple-digit four-seamer, intentionally walking Pete Crow-Armstrong and then inducing an inning-ending groundout of Seiya Suzuki.
Before heading into the clubhouse for arm care, Ekness asked pitching coach Daniel Moskos whether the 102 had been rounded up.
Nope.
The 102.0 mph strikeout was the second-fastest strikeout pitch by a Marlins pitcher under tracking (2008), behind only Tyron Guerrero (102.5 mph, Sept. 14, 2019).
“I didn't know if I even had that in the tank,” Ekness said. “I know I had a few 101s in the tank previously, but I didn't even know I'd be capable of throwing a ball that hard.”
Overall, Ekness’ four-seamer velocity had 2.3 mph extra on it. The sinker had 2.6 mph more juice. His eight pitches at 100-plus mph tied for 16th most in a relief appearance by a Marlin since 2008, and his average fastball velocity of 100.4 mph was tied for 9th.
“It’s a real fastball,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “It's a unique slot with that type of velocity, and he's got a good breaking ball. With him, when he's in the [strike zone] and he's able to get ahead of people with those types of weapons, we believe Josh can be a really lights-out reliever at this level.”
The 24-year-old Ekness, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Jacksonville on May 2, spent nearly two weeks in the Majors prior to being optioned back down. Miami recalled him on May 29, but he sustained a fluke right calf strain that sidelined him until Aug. 3. At the time, Ekness had given up just one run across 5 1/3 innings in his first six big league outings.
Upon his return, Ekness picked up right where he left off. From Aug. 5-29, he permitted five runs (two earned), with three walks and eight strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings for a 1.35 ERA.
Over his next eight appearances, however, Ekness walked at least one batter in all but one of those games and surrendered multiple runs in three of them.
“We noticed almost way back toward Philadelphia [on Aug. 18] that I started getting a little more crossfire than usual, and I was missing with some of the direction and the consistency and how drastic the misses were,” Ekness said.
Since consecutive multi-run outings on Sept. 7 and 9, Ekness hasn’t been tagged for an earned run in five straight appearances. He has allowed three hits, walked three (two intentionally) and struck out seven during this stretch.
Ekness also credits a change in mindset stemming from his Sept. 15 extra-innings appearance in Arizona, where the automatic runner scored. Knowing the deck was already stacked against him, he took the mound worrying less and feeling more free.
“To be able to get back here and be thrust into a lot of different types of situations, you hope nights like last night, the two-inning outing in Arizona in extra innings, help show him how good he is,” McCullough said. “We can only tell him how good he is so much. Josh needs to believe that, and you hope when you go out and you do that against Major League hitters, that you believe it, because certainly it's not a talent issue. It's just going to be his own belief and his ability to get the ball in the [zone].”