PEORIA, Ariz. —
When Austin Hedges was finished standing in against Reggie Lawson on Friday morning, he asked the guys behind the cage a question:
“That was fast, right?”
Yes, the Padres catcher was told, 95 and 96 mph fast.
“It’s super jumpy,” Hedges said of the pitch that often seems to rise as it travels from the 6-foot-4 Lawson’s right hand and across the plate.
The velocity is not extraordinary for Lawson, except that spring training has just begun and he was not pitching much of last season.
The 22-year-old, a second-round (competitive balance) pick out of Victor Valley High in 2016, was shut down in May due to elbow soreness.