KANSAS CITY -- It’s almost impossible to make Bobby Witt Jr. look lost at the plate.
The American League leader in hits (177) and batting average (.352) has been a menace to opposing pitching all season long in his quest for an AL MVP.
But Ben Joyce had other plans.
The rookie flamethrower, who already picked up the fastest recorded strikeout pitch since pitch tracking began in 2008 with a 104.7 mph heater against J.D. Martinez on Aug. 3, outdid himself yet again.
Joyce was ready to attack one of the best hitters in baseball from the start. The righty fired in a 104.8 mph heater to Witt to start the at-bat -- the second-fastest pitch of the 2024 season (Aroldis Chapman, 105.1 mph).
Witt swung right through it.
Then, he fired again -- 104.5 mph over the plate. And again, the only thing Witt could do to the fifth-fastest pitch of the season was swing and miss. Joyce then decided to throw his version of a changeup for the out pitch -- a 103.2 mph heater in the middle of the zone -- and Witt once again whiffed.
It was the first strikeout in the pitch tracking era of three pitches -- all whiffs -- on pitches 103+ mph.
That 103.2 mph strikeout pitch -- which was 1.3 mph slower than anything else he threw to Witt -- was the seventh-fastest pitch of the season. Joyce, who was selected in the third round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Tennessee, has five of the 10 fastest pitches this season.
And Witt has speed of his own. His 74.4 mph bat speed is 27th best in baseball -- but not fast enough to catch up to Joyce’s heater.
Joyce has now tossed a scoreless inning in 22 of his 26 appearances, and has struck out 26 batters over 29 1/3 innings. He is 2-for-2 in save opportunities, not allowing a baserunner in either frame.
“Joyce is gonna be something special,” manager Ron Washington said after Joyce’s first career save on Aug. 3 against the Mets. “For me, every time you tell him something that educates him, he finds a way to use it.”