A 103.6 mph pitch would be a career-defining moment for nearly any pitcher. For Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Edgardo Henriquez, it is increasingly becoming routine.
Henriquez, 24, froze Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler with a 103.6 mph front-door sinker in the eighth inning that clipped the edge of the strike zone for a called third strike. Dingler quickly challenged the call.
“Got him looking! A 104-mile-per-hour sinker,” the television broadcaster announced.
The review seemed to underscore the moment. Statcast clocked Henriquez’s sinker at 103.6 mph and 2,439 rpm.
According to MLB pitch-tracking data dating to 2008, it was the fastest strikeout pitch ever thrown by a Dodgers pitcher. The record-setting sinker was a highlight in an otherwise difficult 2-1 loss for Los Angeles.
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Henriquez already owned 14 of the Dodgers’ 16 fastest recorded strikeout pitches and 22 of the team’s fastest pitches overall. His 103.6 mph sinker Saturday matched a career high he first achieved during a June 2 matchup with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Baseball Savant lists Henriquez’s average sinker at 100.8 mph this season and his four-seam fastball at an average of 100.5 mph. While most relievers strive to reach 100 mph, the right-handed flamethrower operates at that level with regularity.
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That consistency first began to draw attention last August, when Henriquez fired a 103.3 mph four-seam fastball to Ryan O’Hearn, matching Jonathan Broxton’s Dodgers-era tracking record. A year later, Henriquez has managed to surpass that mark.
The decisive rubber game of the Dodgers’ and Tigers’ three-game series in Detroit is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
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