Status Update: Phil Irwin’s Luminous Curveball

On more than one occasion last spring, the present author published in these electronic pages a love letter from deep within his own self to Pittsburgh minor-leaguer Phil Irwin’s curveball — making note of that pitch’s “wild eroticism,” for example, or its capacity to provoke religious experience.

The pretense for these heartfelt declarations disappeared by early May, however — i.e. the point at which Irwin was (first) placed on the disabled list and (then) compelled to undergo ulnar nerve transposition surgery. One finds, however, that Irwin returned to record some innings in the Arizona Fall League and some other innings, more recently, as part of spring training.

“Is there any new footage of Irwin throwing his luminous curveball?” the author has recently asked in the direction of the internet. “Yes,” the internet has answered — specifically, it appears, of Phil Irwin striking out Philadelphia’s Freddy Galvis. Footage of same has been captured and rendered into a GIF; the status of Irwin’s curveball, updated.