Colorado Rockies: The 3 nastiest pitches we’ve seen from Justin Lawrence

Lawrence made his MLB debut at Chase Field, which has seen plenty of Rockies firsts through the years. That includes the first-ever at-bat and home run from now-All-Star shortstop Trevor Story.

Speaking of firsts, let’s take a look at the first-ever called strike from Lawrence. After walking Asdrubal Cabrera on four pitches, Pavin Smith stepped into the batter’s box against Lawrence, who delivered his first MLB strike.

What you just saw was a 99.8 mph sinker that stayed right at the bottom of the strike zone. Pavin would single to right on the next pitch, but that would be the last baserunner Lawrence would allow during his first-ever inning on the mound for the Rockies.

After Pavin’s single and getting Wyatt Mathisen to fly out to center for the first out of the inning, Eduardo Escobar stepped to the plate. It would take just three pitches for Lawrence to dismiss Escobar, opening with an 80.6 mph slider, followed by a 100.2 mph sinker and this pitch, a 101.2 mph sinker to Escobar that Lawrence would tell reporters the next day was he believed to be the fastest pitch he has ever thrown.

The look that Escobar has on his face as he walks away from the plate says it all.