Touki Toussaint hits 98 mph in start with Rome Braves

When the Diamondbacks traded pitcher Touki Toussaint to the Braves for Phil Gosselin, not many were fans of the decision to essentially sell the team's 2014 first-round pick.

Much of the baseball world couldn't even grasp the move.

General manager Dave Stewart defended the trade by downplaying Toussaint's reported velocity of 96 mph, saying that the prospect had an inflated perception.

"To this point, he has pitched OK, he has pitched well," Stewart told Fox Sports. "But guys are mentioning that he throws 96 mph. He hasn't thrown 96 mph since he's been here. We haven't seen 96 once."

But what about 98 mph?

According to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, that 96 mph plateau was selling Toussaint short. Rosenthal reported Monday that Toussaint's fastball reached 98 mph in his Saturday start with the Class-A Rome Braves.

azcentral sports Diamondbacks insider Nick Piecoro brought Stewart's comments into question after the trade in June.

He wrote:

That statement doesn't match up with reports from others in the industry. Multiple sources say they saw Toussaint hitting the upper-90s in the rookie-level Arizona League last season. As for this year, his velocity might be a touch down but not much more. Multiple scouts say they had him up to 95 mph in outings with Low-A Kane County, and another scout said Toussaint topped out at 96 mph during an outing in May.

Toussaint threw five scoreless innings in the Braves' 1-0 win over the Charleston RiverDogs.

It's a small sample size, but Toussaint has been dominant in his two appearances with the Braves, allowing one run in 9 1/3 innings and striking out seven. He is 1-0 with a 0.96 ERA.

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