Stephen Strasburg's curveball was so wicked, it made Jose Altuve's knees buckle
Some things cannot be explained.
Another unexplained encounter happened on Thursday night when
As you can see, the second baseman's knees buckled as he watched the pitch cross the plate, striking him out. Any one of us would have been just as flabbergasted by the offering, but Altuve, in his next at-bat, redeemed himself with a single up the middle.
According to MLB.com's Andrew Simon, this pitch (3,022 rpm) and another to
Stephen Strasburg threw 8 of the 10 highest-spin curves @statcast has ever tracked from him tonight. One even made Jose Altuve look bad. pic.twitter.com/caqxIwUl3B
— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) August 25, 2017
But wait ... there's more.
The three-time All-Star's average curveball spin rate on Thursday night was 2,942 rpm, compared to his season mark of 2,789. Strasburg, through six scoreless innings against the Astros, gave up three hits on one walk and seven strikeouts.
If you are still watching this GIF on repeat, we don't blame you.