Former Sox utilityman Brock Holt throws slowest pitch on record originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
There wasn’t much Brock Holt couldn’t do over seven seasons with the Boston Red Sox.
But over the weekend, the utilityman showed off a unique skillset he never got a chance to flash during his time in Boston: now a member of the Texas Rangers, Holt threw a scoreless inning of relief in a 12-3 loss to the Oakland A’s on Saturday.
It isn’t just that Holt took the mound that’s noteworthy, however. Holt set a new record for slowest pitch thrown in a Major League game since the sport began tracking such data in 2008, landing a 31 mph eephus for a called strike against Oakland utilityman Josh Harrison.
Holt nearly broke the radar gun a few pitches later, dialing up a 77 mph fastball when facing Tony Kemp.
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“The situation stinks but it’s always fun for us to be able to go out and do that,” Holt said, via the Associated Press. “The plan was to see how slow I could throw it and still be able to throw strikes. I don’t throw hard enough to put very much stress on my arm. For me it’s about throwing strikes and get us to tomorrow without using any more pitchers.”
With the scoreless frame, Holt lowered his career ERA from 13.50 to 8.75; he’d thrown an inning and a third in 2020 as a member of the Washington Nationals, giving up two earned runs over two appearances.
Holt, 33, is batting an even .200 with two homers and 16 runs batted in over 190 at-bats for the Rangers this season.