What Was The Fastest Pitch In Baseball?

We all know that baseball is a game of speed, but just how fast can a pitcher throw a ball? We did some research to find out the answer to this question – and the results may surprise you!

Introduction

In baseball, the speed of a pitch greatly effects the outcome of the play. A fastball thrown at 95 miles per hour is much harder to hit than one thrown at 85 miles per hour. However, not all fastballs are created equal. A four-seam fastball and a two-seam fastball will have different spin rates and will thus move differently through the air. The difference in spin rate can be quite significant; for example, a four-seam fastball thrown by New York Yankees pitcher Aroldis Chapman has an average spin rate of 2,374 revolutions per minute (RPM), whereas his two-seam fastball has an average spin rate of 1,972 RPM.

The fastest recorded pitch in baseball was clocked at 105.1 miles per hour and was thrown by Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Nathan Eovaldi in a game against the Baltimore Orioles on September 28, 2016. The pitch was a four-seam fastball that was struck out by Orioles batter Manny Machado.

Aroldis Chapman’s 105.1 mph Fastball

On September 24, 2010, Aroldis Chapman, then a Cincinnati Reds rookie, threw a 105.1 mph fastball to San Diego Padres rookie Mike Adams. It is the fastest ever recorded by the PITCHf/x system, which was installed in every Major League ballpark in 2006.

The second-fastest pitch on record was thrown by Tyler Clippard of the Washington Nationals in September 2010, when he reached 103.9 mph on a fastball to Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters.

Chapman’s fastball ties Adams for the all-time record for the fastest pitch thrown in an MLB game. The two pitches were clocked within one-hundredth of a second of each other.

Nolan Ryan’s 100.9 mph Fastball

Nolan Ryan’s 100.9 mph Fastball is not only the fastest pitch in baseball history, it’s the fastest pitch ever recorded in any professional sport. The record was set on August 20, 1974, when Ryan, pitching for the California Angels, threw a fastball that was clocked at 100.9 miles per hour by the Guinness Book of World Records.

In addition to being the fastest pitch ever thrown, Nolan Ryan’s 100.9 mph fastball is also one of the most famous pitches in baseball history. The pitch was thrown during a game against the Detroit Tigers, and it ultimately resulted in a strikeout. The batter, Kurt Bevacqua, went down swinging on three pitches, all of which were fastballs that were clocked at 100 miles per hour or higher.

While Nolan Ryan’s 100.9 mph fastball is certainly the fastest pitch in baseball history, there have been a handful of other pitchers who have come close to matching his speed. Bob Feller’s 98.6 mph fastball is the second-fastest pitch on record, while Steve Dalkowski’s 97.7 mph fastball is third-fastest. Randy Johnson’s 96 mph fastball is fourth-fastest, while Jered Weaver’s 95 mph fastball rounds out the top five.

Joel Zumaya’s 102.2 mph Fastball

Joel Zumaya delivered the fastest pitch in baseball history on September 7, 2006, when he threw a 102.2 mph fastball to Minnesota Twins utility infielder Nick Punto.

Zumaya’s fastball was clocked by PITCHf/x, a high-speed cameras system that tracks the movement of pitches from release point to home plate. The 102.2 mph reading is the highest ever recorded by PITCHf/x, which has been tracking Major League pitches since 2007.

Prior to Zumaya’s pitch, the fastest pitch ever recorded by PITCHf/x was a 101.9 mph fastball thrown by San Francisco Giants closer Mark Melancon in 2010.

Conclusion

In short, Aroldis Chapman’s 105.1 mph pitch in 2010 is the fastest recorded pitch in MLB history. Nolan Ryan holds the record for the most recordings of a 105+ mph pitch with seven.
The majority of fastballs thrown in MLB are clocked in between 90 and 95 miles per hour (145 and 153 km/h). The probability of injury increases exponentially as the pitcher’s velocity increases; thus, high-velocity pitchers (> 95 mph or 153 km/h) generally have a shorter pitching career than their lower velocity counterparts.