YANKEES SIGNED MARK LEITER JR. FOR ONE IMPORTANT PITCH

Great nugget in a Pete Caldera story today. That's why I will always love a legend like Pete. There is always something you take away from his stories that you do not get anywhere else.  

This story has to do with newly acquired Mark Leiter Jr. and his pitch that will be vital for him and the Yankees as we go down the stretch.

Caldera writes:

"Leiter Jr. first threw his version of a split-fingered fastball during a college game at NJIT.

The splitter became more refined during his past three seasons as a Chicago Cub, and it was on prominent display in Sunday’s 10-inning win against the Toronto Blue Jays.

After striking out Joey Loperfido on a splitter to end the ninth, Leiter Jr. fanned George Springer and Alejandro Kirk on splitters to finish a 4-3 victory at Yankee Stadium."

Boone made some stupid comment about Leiter and his split finger fastball and said that the Yankees went after him because of that pitch.  Like, give me a break.  Leiter is a solid all around pitcher.  Boone has a tendency to prop up the wrong things. Just a terrible communicator.

Anyway, Caldera has this stat too which I loved:

"According to MLB Statcast, batters are hitting just .076 against Leiter Jr.’s splitter in 2024, a pitch he throws 33.8 percent of the time, at an average speed of 84.3 mph."

I see great things for this young man.  I hope things pan out for him in the Bronx for sure.

THIS MIGUEL CASTRO PITCH THAT WILL MAKE YOUR JAW DROP

I'm still in awe. It's shock and awe. Miguel Castro is some sort of magician. He's a wizard. He's something that just can't be explained right now. He's worthy of a science experiment and then let's CLONE him while we are at it.

If you didn't know, Castro was swapped for Joely Rodriguez in a trade with the Mets.

What I saw on Tuesday made me all tingly inside. It was something that I had to watch again, not once or even twice. Hell, I am STILL watching it. Did you get a good look at this?

THAT right there is a thing of beauty. It is just one reason why I give people a crazy look if someone tells me that "baseball is boring" or "watching players try and hit a ball is lame compared to football." That's straight nonsense and so was that pitch Castro threw!

The pitch itself is BEAUTIFUL but it makes no sense. Like, how is it possible and it needs it's own word. They are calling this a 99mph SINKER but this is no usual sinker. It has crazy movement, it moves more left to right and it looks like a freaking two-seam fastball or even a cutter. I see that and the last thing I think is sinker. Hell, call it the Castro pitch for all I care. It doesn't matter what this is called it's just plain FILTHY.

And Alejandro Kirk was just as stunned as I was. He tried to sell it as a walk but as quick as that looked like the ball was outside it ended up being damn near middle-middle. It's magic I tell ya. He may think it is the best pitch he's seen in his very young career. I think it's one of the best pitches I have ever seen, I can't stop watching it.

Can I just add a big THANK YOU to the Mets for trading him? I'm glad you guys added another lefty arm like you wanted and you decided to get rid of Castro. I hope I get to watch this all season long. This is just super human....it's some sort of witch craft and I love it!

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj