Braves reliever Anthony Varvaro has been known to get his fastball into the mid-90s, but when he touched 97 mph to strike out Chris Young Sunday in New York? That was a little bit above the norm.
Varvaro started out throwing 92, 93 mph to David Wright, the first hitter he faced in the 10th inning. But by Young, his third batter, his fastball was cooking. He threw him four straight fastballs, progressively harder, going 94, 95, 96 to 97 mph.
“Maybe pitching in New York where he’s from, maybe he got a little extra velocity,” said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez of the Staten Island native and former pitcher for St. Johns. “But I’ve seen him throw that.”
Gonzalez said he’s been impressed with Varvaro’s ability to throw strikes and get out some big-time hitters of late. Entering Monday, Varvaro had a 2.08 ERA, second in the Braves bullpen only to the rookie Ian Thomas (1.69).
This is after Varvaro had a 9.82 ERA in 10 spring training outings. But Gonzalez has a theory on that one too.
“He’s one of those guys, he’s always thinking he’s going to get released so spring training is not a good time of year for him,” Gonzalez said. “Every time I go by and say hi, he’s probably thinks ‘I’m going to get called into the office.’ He doesn’t get comfortable. So when he runs some of those spring training numbers out there, you say ‘We know what you are, we’re not going on numbers, just get your work in.’”
It’s looking like a wise choice.
