Friday night marked the next level of a new dynamic in the Padres bullpen, one they plan on continuing to cultivate.
Andres Munoz made his major league debut in the sixth inning of a 5-3 loss to the Braves, and the 20-year-old right-hander not only threw harder any Padres pitcher has since at least 2015 but also let fly eight of the 10 fastest pitches by a Padres pitcher this season.
Among his nine fastballs, only one (at 99.5) didn’t hit triple digits. The 101.9 mph pitch Brian McCann fouled off was the fastest by any Padres pitcher since the start of the Statcast era (2015).