A Minnesota Twins prospect has a chance to make Major League Baseball history this season.
Twins pitcher Cory Lewis has been turning heads with his knuckleball during the early portion of spring training. The right-hander consistently throws the pitch in the mid-80s. Lewis reportedly reached 87 mph with one of his knuckleballs this spring.
If Lewis were to throw an 87-mph knuckleball in an MLB game, that would be the fastest knuckleball ever recorded at the MLB level. The pitch has looked virtually impossible to hit when Morris is at his best — just ask Detroit Tigers infielder Gleyber Torres.
Former Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey had a knuckleball that he could throw around 80 mph when he chose to crank things up. The late Tim Wakefield, another famous knuckleball pitcher, had more of a floating pitcher that usually hovered in the mid-60s.
Believe it or not, the Detroit Tigers recently signed a pitcher who may throw a harder knuckleball than the one we have seen from Lewis. The Tigers offered the pitcher, Kenny Serwa, a contract after an insane video of him went viral.
We also saw a wild knuckleball from a San Diego Padres pitcher during a game last season that had some heat on it.
Lewis has been impressive in the Twins’ minor-league system. He has a 12-10 record with a 2.50 ERA across 41 total appearances (39 starts). Lewis has 210 strikeouts in 180 1/3 innings.
If all of these hard-throwing knuckleball pitchers make it to the majors, hitters are going to have their hands full.
