How Fast Can A Baseball Go?

With the right pitching arm, a baseball can reach speeds of over 100 miles per hour. But how fast can a baseball actually go? Let’s take a look at the science behind this intriguing question.

The Physics of Pitching

A pitcher can throw a baseball up to 100 miles per hour, but how does that happen? The answer has to do with the physics of pitching. When a pitcher throws a baseball, he or she imparts kinetic energy to the ball. This is done by accelerating the ball from rest to its maximum velocity.

The science of pitching a baseball

The science of pitching a baseball is really the study of projectile motion. A pitched baseball starts out with a relatively high speed, but as it moves through the air its speed decreases due to the force of gravity. The path that the baseball follows as it slows down is called its trajectory.

A pitcher can affect the speed and trajectory of a baseball by changing the way he throws it. For example, a pitcher can throw a fastball, which is a pitch that is thrown with more speed than other types of pitches. A fastball will tend to have a straighter trajectory than other types of pitches, and will often be used to surprise a batter who was expecting a slower pitch.

Pitchers can also throw curveballs, which are pitches that curve in the air as they are thrown. Curveballs are thrown with less speed than fastballs, but their trajectories can be harder for batters to predict.

The physics of pitching a baseball is governed by the same principles that govern the motion of any other object through the air. By understanding these principles, pitchers can learn how to throw different types of pitches with different speeds and trajectories.

The science of hitting a baseball

The science of hitting a baseball is fascinating. When a professional pitcher throws a fastball, the ball can travel up to 100 miles per hour. At that speed, it only takes the ball about four-tenths of a second to reach the plate. The batter has to swing at the right time to make contact with the ball. If he swings too early or too late, he’ll miss the ball entirely.

But hitting a moving baseball is not as simple as it may seem. The batter has to account for the speed and direction of the pitch, as well as the spin of the ball. All of these factors affect where the ball will be when it reaches the plate. A batter who can correctly predict all of these variables has a much better chance of hitting a home run.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the physics involved in hitting a baseball. We’ll start with an overview of how pitchers throw different types of pitches, and then we’ll discuss how those pitches behave once they’re thrown.

The Fastest Pitchers in MLB History

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws the ball to the catcher to begin each play. A pitcher’s primary job is to throw the ball so that the batter cannot hit it. A pitcher must also have good control of the ball so that he can throw it in the strike zone. Some pitchers can throw the ball extremely fast. The speed of a baseball depends on how hard the pitcher throws it. The fastest pitchers in MLB history have been clocked at over 100 mph.

Aroldis Chapman

Aroldis Chapman is a Cuban-born professional baseball pitcher who plays for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). Chapman also plays for the Cuban national baseball team. He bats and throws left-handed, and is 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) in height and weigh 200 pounds (91 kg). He previously played for the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs. Chapman made his MLB debut with the Reds in 2010, and served as the team’s closer from 2012 to 2015. With the Cubs, he helped them win the 2016 World Series over the Cleveland Indians. In 2019, he broke the record for fastest pitch thrown in an MLB game, at 105.1 miles per hour (169.1 km/h).

Nolan Ryan

Nolan Ryan’s fastball was once clocked at 104.3 mph. That’s the fastest anyone has ever thrown a baseball. But that doesn’t mean Ryan is the fastest pitcher in Major League Baseball history. In fact, there are dozens of pitchers who have thrown faster than Ryan, including some who are still active today.

Here are the 10 pitchers who have thrown the fastest pitches in MLB history:

1. Aroldis Chapman – 105.1 mph
2. Joel Zumaya – 104.8 mph
3. Fu-Te Ni – 104.5 mph
4. Marc Rzepczynski – 103.9 mph
5. Jordan Walden – 103.6 mph
6 Huston Street – 103.5 mph
7 Kelvin Herrera – 102.9 mph
8 Gerrit Cole – 102.7 mph
9 Nate Jones – 102.5 mph
10 Carlos Marmol – 102.4 mph

Randy Johnson

Randy Johnson was one of the most feared pitchers in MLB history. Standing at 6’10”, he towered over most hitters, and his fastball was nearly impossible to hit. In fact, his fastball was so fast that it was frequently referred to as “Theexpress” or “The Bullet.”

Johnson is the only pitcher in MLB history to throw a pitch that was clocked at over 100 mph. On September 24, 2004, Johnson threw a pitch to San Francisco Giant’s batter Brett Pill that was clocked at 100.4 mph. This is the fastest pitch ever recorded in MLB history.

While Johnson is the only pitcher to ever throw a pitch over 100 mph, there have been a handful of pitchers who have come close. The following is a list of the five fastest pitches in MLB history:

1. Randy Johnson – 100.4 mph
2. Aroldis Chapman – 99.1 mph
3. Joel Zumaya – 98.6 mph
4. Mark Wohlers – 98.4 mph
5. Steve Dalkowski – 98.3 mph

The Fastest Balls Ever Recorded

In competition, the record-fastest ball ever thrown was clocked at 105.1 miles per hour ( 169.0 kilometers per hour) by Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman during the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Chapman was just 22 years old at the time. In November 2010, Chapman signed a five-year, $30 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds, making him the highest-paid relief pitcher in baseball history.

Aroldis Chapman

Aroldis Chapman holds the record for the fastest recorded pitch in MLB history, at 105.1 mph. He accomplished this feat on September 24, 2010, while pitching for the Cincinnati Reds.

Nolan Ryan

On August 20, 1974, California Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan became the first player to throw a ball more than 100 miles per hour. His fastball was measured at 100.9 miles per hour by the Pitching Committee for Major League Baseball. The following year, Ryan set a record with a speed of 106.9 miles per hour. He held this record for nearly three decades before it was broken by Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman in 2010.

Since then, there have been a handful of pitchers who have topped Chapman’s mark, including HOUSTON’s radar-gun readings in 2019:

Trevor Bauer – 107.1 MPH
Noah Syndergaard – 103.7 MPH
Jordan Hicks – 103.3 MPH

Randy Johnson

On September 24th, 2004, Randy Johnson became the fastest pitcher in baseball history, throwing a 103.5 mph fastball to San Diego Padres rookie pinch-hitter Alex Sanchez. It was the first time in major league history that a pitcher had topped 103 mph, and only the second time a pitcher had topped 102 mph.

Johnson was no stranger to velocity; he had already set the record for the fastest pitch ever thrown twice before, with a 102.4 mph fastball in 2001 and a 102.8 mph fastball in 2002. But the 2004 pitch was special not just for its speed, but for its late movement; as it crossed the plate, it broke sharply to Sanchez’s back foot, leading to a swinging strikeout.