Consistently 92-93, though he took some off for 89 at times. It's REALLY straight. Which is fine, he clobbers the black with it when it's on, and apparently this was one of his most "off" nights of the year and he still pitched a shutout.
He does like to work up the ladder with it at times too. He can work it around the zone but it's not gonna twist and dive on anyone, at least not the way I was watching him throw it. It means his changeup and breaker are really important for his success. His change especially has beautiful late movement. Harder throwing Buehrle bother anyone as a comp?
Gonna be fun to watch him work his game, which might be better against pros than college kids honestly. What was it they said about Moyer? That he would get hammered by HS kids who can hit 83 mph slop but pros are just too proud to wait that long? Changeups work better against guys who will swing for the fences than against those willing to slap groundballs and move runners with crappy metal bats anyway, as the coach of LSU indicated as well. And Hultzen murdered his competition with it this year anyway (2nd in college in Ks to only...Trevor Bauer). He is going to do a lot of corner-painting and changeups in the zone, and the whiffs over the top will be fun. Assuming his game translates, which I think it does. I still don't think he's an ace, but he might have a no-hitter or two in him.
And a Mark Buehrle with more Ks has to be something really good, right? *laughs* Actual Mark Buehrle is frustating and terminally effective. We'll see if Hultzen can get there, but his toolset is interesting - even on a day when nothing's working right.
~G