During that performance he topped out at 93 mph, but was mostly in the 90-92 mph range. He said after the game that his velocity would return. Tejeda is in Omaha on a rehab assignment after going on the DL on April 14 with shoulder inflammation.
On Sunday Tejeda faced seven total hitters in the seventh and eighth innings. He threw 22 pitches, 16 for strikes.
Here’s a rundown of what happened with each hitter.
- Tejeda threw Koby Clemens four straight fastballs (91, 92, 95, 94) during the AB – all of which were around the plate. He got Clemens to strike out on a foul tip on the fourth pitch.
- Brian Dopirak, who homered in the second inning off Danny Duffy, was probably looking fastball from Tejeda, but Tejeda started him with a changeup (82 mph) that was high and inside. His next pitch was a 92 mph fastball that caught a lot of the plate, but Dopirak flew out to left field.
- Robinson Cancel saw three straight off-speed pitches from Tejeda (83, 83, 81) to start the AB – two of which were strikes, but again they caught a lot of the plate. Tejeda threw him a 94 mph fastball and Cancel grounded out to third base.
- Jose Vellejo led off the eighth inning. Tejeda started him with an 87 mph pitch (presumably a fastball since his slider isn’t usually that fast) that was a called strike over the outside portion of the plate. The second pitch, an 88 mph fastball, was outside. The third pitch, a 93 mph fastball, was over the inside portion of the plate and Vallejo was able to foul it off. Tejeda got him to ground out to first with an 83 mph changeup.
- J.B. Shuck saw two pitches in the high 70s from Tejeda and then lined a 1-1, 93 mph fastball that was right down the middle into center field for a single. Shuck, the number nine hitter, was hitting just .182 in May and has little or no power – which is probably why Tejeda went right after him.
- Tejeda got Anderson Hernandez to fly out to left field on the first pitch of the AB – an 89 mph fastball over the outside portion of the plate.
- Then Tejeda went right after Brandon Barnes. His final three pitches of the four-pitch AB were fastballs (94, 95, 94) – all of which were elevated over the strike zone. Barnes swung through two of them to strike out.
