Jake Faria showed off incredible reflexes to catch Aaron Judge's 109-mph comebacker
Jake Faria caught a 109-mph Aaron Judge comebacker
When pitchers face the Yankees in 2018, they probably know there's a good chance that they'll get hit hard at least a couple times during the game. The team leads all of baseball in home runs and has a shot at challenging the single-season team home run record with a hot final week.
With sluggers like Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, even balls that don't leave the park come off the bat hard. During the third inning of Tuesday's Yankees-Rays game, Jake Faria threw a 94-mph fastball to Judge. Judge sent if back to Faria at 109 mph. Fortunately, Faria's reactions were up to the task:
109 mph off the bat. 😳
- MLB (@MLB) September 26, 2018
What. A. Catch. pic.twitter.com/P3Hc87TXfM
"I threw my hands up to get my head out of the way, and the ball went into my glove," Faria told MLB.com's Bill Chastain. "[I've] never seen anything that hard coming at my face before."
On a ball hit that hard, it was probably more luck than skill that led Faria to make the catch. Still, just because a little luck was involved doesn't make the catch any less incredible to watch.