Pitcher hits 90s in viral video, gets A’s contract
Around the Horn discusses the A’s taking a chance on a kid who threw 96 miles per hour in a viral video. (1:44)
Just a few weeks after lighting up the radar gun at a Coors Field speed pitch cage during a Colorado Rockies game, 23-year-old Nathan Patterson is getting his shot to play for a major league team.
The Oakland Athletics, who had been keeping track of the righty for some time, recently signed Patterson to a minor league contract.
Patterson went viral after video of him throwing well into the 90s at the cage in Coors Field hit social media. Last summer, he hit 96 mph under the same circumstances at a Triple-A Nashville Sounds game.
The Athletics began talking with Patterson in January. He was training at that point and, after healing from a wrist injury, played in a men’s league to stay on top of his game.
When he tried his hand in the speed pitch cage in Denver and the result circulated on social media, the A’s took notice again.
“A few days later the A’s gave me a call,” Patterson said, according to MLB.com.
Patterson has been assigned to Oakland’s rookie team in the Arizona League.
“While we understand that this is a great story, we want to let Nathan settle in to the organization and focus on his development as a baseball player,” a team spokesman said.