The fastest pitch in MLB history

[VicVegas 70]

The season began with Washington Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg. Now it's ending with the Reds fire-baller Aroldis Chapman and a MLB record. From Yahoo Sports:

 

 

SAN DIEGO – Aroldis Chapman(notes) was summoned from the bullpen one batter too late to make a difference in the game. No matter. The 22-year-old Cincinnati Reds left-hander made do by making history Friday night, throwing the fastest pitch recorded in a major league game, a 105-mph fastball.

 

The blazing pitch pushed a white-hot pennant race to the back burner. Yes, the San Diego Padres won the game 4-3 to pull ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the National League wild-card race. Sure, the San Francisco Giants all but buried the Colorado Rockies thanks to a dominant performance by Tim Lincecum(notes).

 

But the lingering memory was of a now-you-see-it, did-I-actually-see-it fastball to Tony Gwynn(notes) in the eighth inning. The pitch was not a fluke: Chapman threw 25 pitches in his 1 1/3 innings of relief, and every one was at least 100 mph. He didn't throw a slider. He didn't throw a changeup. Why would he?

 

 

The rest of the article:

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=sh-redspadres092410

[midlifecrisis 4,030]

I am a huge baseball fan but yawn.

 

If all he's got consistently in the strike zone is that pitch, major league hitters will make him a has been in no time.

 

Major league hitters are not impressed by speed alone. The art of pitching is upsetting a hitter's timing. A major league hitter can time a pitch over 100 mph. Movement of a pitch, differences in speeds, differences in changing a batter's line of sight, i.e. up and in, low and away, down and in, up and away, etc. with change of speed are what get major league hitters out.

 

If a pitcher gets behind in the count, he gets predictable and the hitter, as Joe Morgan says, "is sitting dead red."

 

If you are easily impressed by radar gun readings, good for you. Major league hitters are not.

[joekicker 53]

If you are easily impressed by radar gun readings, good for you. Major league hitters are not.

 

Really. The kid's an asterisk. 105mph is an asterisk EVEN if the kid turns into an actual pitcher over time.

 

Also, Vic doesn't include Siddhartha "Sidd" Finch. He threw at 168 mph in 1985, according to Sports Illustrated.

 

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[JohnnyK 28]

Bob Feller could do 99mph in the day.

And he got it over the plate. Then followed with a curve that dropped off the table on its way through the strike zone.

Whiffed 15 in his first big league start then went back to high school

3 no-hitters, 12 1-hitters and 4 years in the navy when he was 23-26 years old.

midlife and joe are right, speed is only one part. Control, strategy and guts are more important.

Edited September 26, 2010 by JohnnyK

[midlifecrisis 4,030]

Really. The kid's an asterisk. 105mph is an asterisk EVEN if the kid turns into an actual pitcher over time.

 

Also, Vic doesn't include Siddhartha "Sidd" Finch. He threw at 168 mph in 1985, according to Sports Illustrated.

 

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The speed of the pitch is not what gets hitters out. It is movement on the pitch.

 

There are even two types of fastballs (I am not including the split finger) 2-seam and 4-seam. Then you have sliders, curveballs and change ups.

 

Knuckle balls, the slowest of the slow, can get a good hitter in a major funk.

 

If a pitcher with a 105 mph fastball cannot upset the hitters timing with any of the other pitches in the strike zone, he will soon be suffering whiplash from cranking his head around to watch the ball sail over the fence.

 

This is not my opinion. It is the opinion of major leaguers. Ex-player TV analysts discuss this ad nauseum.

 

I should know. I am a baseball addict. I watch easily 125 to 150 games a year on TV and go to many games.

 

So, yes. Really! He impresses the media. He is a marvel for fans. But major leaguers aren't impressed with speed - unless he has something else to upset their timing.

 

For those who care:

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/chapmar01.shtml

 

He has been very good in only 10+ innings pitched but not the second coming yet.

[MC_Ldop 40]

There are even two types of fastballs (I am not including the split finger) 2-seam and 4-seam.

 

If you're not including splitters then you should at least include cutters.

[joekicker 53]

If a pitcher with a 105 mph fastball cannot upset the hitters timing with any of the other pitches in the strike zone, he will soon be suffering whiplash from cranking his head around to watch the ball sail over the fence.

 

Exactly.

 

The thing you are saying without actually saying is that this Chapman, who I have watched twice, is NOT a pitcher, he is a thrower. A guy who rares back and tosses it will get hit and will not be throwing off big league mounds for long.

 

An old coach put it very well one time -- up and down in relation to the ground, in and out in relation to the plate/batter, back and forth (speed) or what some would call precision AND the speed of the pitch -- except that there really three parts to it. If you have three of these, chances are you'll be a good pitcher. If you have two of these you've only got a chance if you are really good (NOT FAST, good) and smart in using that "good". If you have one, you'll never have a chance. Speed of pitch isn't very important, really. Here's one thing that's really important: DIFFERENCE in speed between the fast ball and change. A guy who can throw 92 and 75 and make the pitches look the same is a lot better than a guy who can throw 102 over and over and OVER and over again. A guy who can throw four kinds of fast ball at 94 is better.

 

You can have your 105mph Chapman, and I'll have fun watching him. Meanwhile I'll take that old man Rivera at a measly 95 or that ugly old 92mph Lidge.

 

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[MC_Ldop 40]

Speed of pitch isn't very important, really.

 

Completely agreed. I loved watching Greg Maddux throw complete games with less than 90 pitches. He never had much heat, but his control and movment were superb.

[midlifecrisis 4,030]

Exactly.

 

The thing you are saying without actually saying is that this Chapman, who I have watched twice, is NOT a pitcher, he is a thrower. A guy who rares back and tosses it will get hit and will not be throwing off big league mounds for long.

 

An old coach put it very well one time -- up and down in relation to the ground, in and out in relation to the plate/batter, back and forth (speed) or what some would call precision AND the speed of the pitch -- except that there really three parts to it. If you have three of these, chances are you'll be a good pitcher. If you have two of these you've only got a chance if you are really good (NOT FAST, good) and smart in using that "good". If you have one, you'll never have a chance. Speed of pitch isn't very important, really. Here's one thing that's really important: DIFFERENCE in speed between the fast ball and change. A guy who can throw 92 and 75 and make the pitches look the same is a lot better than a guy who can throw 102 over and over and OVER and over again. A guy who can throw four kinds of fast ball at 94 is better.

 

You can have your 105mph Chapman, and I'll have fun watching him. Meanwhile I'll take that old man Rivera at a measly 95 or that ugly old 92mph Lidge.

 

.

As Mike Krukow puts it, a brain dead heaver.

 

You are correct in that you need to learn how to pitch and not throw. There have been many guys with great fastballs who nobody even heard of - like Sidd What'shisface. hehe

 

You are also reiterating what I have been saying. Thank you! The art of pitching is upsetting a batter's timing. I did not invent that. I must credit again Mr. Krukow who pitched for the Cubs, Phils and Giants. But others have said these things also.

 

I also Like Joe Morgan's take on it in that if a guy can't get his off speed pitches over the plate, he is sitting Dead Red - i.e. sitting on a fastball.

[VicVegas 70]

I agree with everything you guys say. A guy like Greg Maddux is a Hall-of-Fame pitcher even when he never bumps the radar gun over 80. Speed means very little if you can't get hitters out.

 

Still, 105 mph. No one has ever thrown a pitch that fast. It does impress me.

 

I stood next to the bullpen and watched Zack Grienke warm up a couple years ago when the Royals were in Phoenix to play the Diamondbacks. I'm guessing he didn't break 90 mph, but standing that close and watching the white blur that sounded like a gunshot everytime it landed in the catcher's mitt. It impressed me.

 

. . . and this kid was throwing 105.

 

Wasn't Syd Finch the guy who rubbed possum fat on the ball?

[Jwn 2]

If he can throw strikes he can be a great short relief pitcher. At 105mph it's a blur to most hitters if you can't see it will be hard to hit, and only the best hitters will have a chance. I do agree he will be fun to watch.

[JohnnyK 28]

Whitey Ford threw an 80mph fastball.

At a Hall of Fame dinner when Reggie Jackson want in he cornered Whitey and badgered him "How would I do gainst you, Whitey?"

Reggie just kept hassling as Ford avoided answering.

Finally, Whitey had had enough, "Reggie, Ted Williams hit .200 lifetime against me."

With an 80 mph fastball.

[joekicker 53]

If he can throw strikes he can be a great short relief pitcher. At 105mph it's a blur to most hitters if you can't see it will be hard to hit, and only the best hitters will have a chance. I do agree he will be fun to watch.

 

No he most certainly won't be a great. And he won't be short relief, there's no way he can go beyond three batters at a time. The best that a one-pitch fireballer can do is one season as final closer, and he'd better get three in a row because the fourth guy will kill him.

 

Did you notice how well K-Rod is doing these days? Okay, that's unfair, but guys who ONLY throw heat last two years if they are somehow different. Like the Dodgers had that left-handed Korean flamethrower a couple of years ago, he lasted two years throwing heat in the ninth inning because he was a leftie. Now, I can't remember his name, heh. But if you have one pitch in the bigs, and if that one pitch is straight and hard, you most definitely are not destined for greatness even in short relief.

 

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[MC_Ldop 40]

Did you notice how well K-Rod is doing these days?

.

 

He has a winning record against his in-laws.

 

I agree with everything you guys say. A guy like Greg Maddux is a Hall-of-Fame pitcher even when he never bumps the radar gun over 80.

 

I'm not sure what you're talking about here. Maddux's fastball was usually in the mid- to high-80s for most of his career. In his younger days, he topped out at 93.

[JohnnyK 28]

Maddux was a pitcher. Control, guile, technique and knowledge.

Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing.

- Warren Spahn, 363 big league wins, 13 times a 20-game winner, 23-7 at age 42.

[joekicker 53]

Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing.

 

Very concise. Just look at some guy waving at a chin-high fast ball or a slider that went 57 feet and bounced - and you know he's right.

 

.

[midlifecrisis 4,030]

If he can throw strikes he can be a great short relief pitcher. At 105mph it's a blur to most hitters if you can't see it will be hard to hit, and only the best hitters will have a chance. I do agree he will be fun to watch.

As I heard on Fox's Saturday broadcast against San Diego, he is expected to eventually be a starter.

 

Whitey Ford threw an 80mph fastball.

At a Hall of Fame dinner when Reggie Jackson want in he cornered Whitey and badgered him "How would I do gainst you, Whitey?"

Reggie just kept hassling as Ford avoided answering.

Finally, Whitey had had enough, "Reggie, Ted Williams hit .200 lifetime against me."

With an 80 mph fastball.

Great stuff! I had not heard that one before. My boss is a big Yankees fan and I will "pitch" that at him tomorrow.

 

Very concise. Just look at some guy waving at a chin-high fast ball or a slider that went 57 feet and bounced - and you know he's right.

 

.

Gee I wish I had brought that up first.

 

[JohnnyK 28]

As I heard on Fox's Saturday broadcast against San Diego, he is expected to eventually be a starter.

 

 

Great stuff! I had not heard that one before. My boss is a big Yankees fan and I will "pitch" that at him tomorrow.

 

 

Gee I wish I had brought that up first.

 

midlife, the Whitey story is from a PBS program I saw with Tim Russert. He had Yogi, Fisk, Gary Carter and Ford. I think it was Yogi told the story, Whitey was too modest.

 

The timing quote was from Spahnie. I put his highlights in to show the man was something of an authority on pitching. Winningest lefty of all time and didn't win a big league game before he was 26 due to the war.

[midlifecrisis 4,030]

midlife, the Whitey story is from a PBS program I saw with Tim Russert. He had Yogi, Fisk, Gary Carter and Ford. I think it was Yogi told the story, Whitey was too modest.

 

The timing quote was from Spahnie. I put his highlights in to show the man was something of an authority on pitching. Winningest lefty of all time and didn't win a big league game before he was 26 due to the war.

I did not say "said that first"

 

See 1st response to op.

[JohnnyK 28]

I did not say "said that first"

 

See 1st response to op.

mai kao jai,

only background FYI

[VicVegas 70]

I'm not sure what you're talking about here. Maddux's fastball was usually in the mid- to high-80s for most of his career. In his younger days, he topped out at 93.

 

I wasn't being literal. My point was Maddux wasn't known for being a power pitcher, but he's one of the best pitchers in MLB history.

 

Back to Chapman, he's currently 2-2, with 16 strikeouts in 11 innings of work and a 2.38 ERA. He was a September call up so I'm guessing he won't be on the Reds play-off roster.

[JohnnyK 28]

I wasn't being literal. My point was Maddux wasn't known for being a power pitcher, but he's one of the best pitchers in MLB history.

 

Back to Chapman, he's currently 2-2, with 16 strikeouts in 11 innings of work and a 2.38 ERA. He was a September call up so I'm guessing he won't be on the Reds play-off roster.

Maddux=Whitey Ford.

Finesse, control, smarts and guts. They can all toss it at 85mph or more but as said before there's more to it, much more, than pure speed.

[kaiser71 30]

I thought Nolan Ryan threw one at 108 mph.