Whats The Fastest Baseball Ever Thrown?
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Find out what the fastest baseball pitch ever thrown was and how it compares to the average major league fastball.
Aroldis Chapman’s fastball
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws the ball to the hitter. A pitcher’s main job is to try and get the hitter out. The fastest recorded fastball in baseball was thrown by Aroldis Chapman. He threw a pitch that was clocked at 105.1 miles per hour (169.0 kilometers per hour) in a game in 2010. Chapman currently plays for the New York Yankees.
Billy Wagner’s fastball
Billy Wagner’s fastball is often cited as the fastest pitch ever thrown in Major League Baseball. In a game against the San Diego Padres in September 1999, Wagner threw a pitch that was clocked at 101.1 miles per hour.
Nolan Ryan’s fastball
In 1974, Ryan established a major league record by throwing a fastball that was clocked at 100.9 miles per hour. This mark remained unbroken as of 2014, making it the fastest fastball ever thrown in a major league game.
During his career, Ryan also threw seven no-hitters, more than any other pitcher in major league history. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.
Joel Zumaya’s fastball
In 2006, Detroit Tigers’ reliever Joel Zumaya reached a top speed of 104.8 mph on a pitch during a game against the Minnesota Twins. This is widely regarded as the fastest pitch ever thrown in an MLB game.
There have been a few pitches clocked at higher speeds, but they were all thrown by pitchers in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league. The fastest of these was 105.1 mph, thrown by pitcher Junichi Tazawa in 2010.
Randy Johnson’s fastball
Randy Johnson, nicknamed “The Big Unit”, is a former American baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in the Major League Baseball (MLB). He pitched for six different teams, most notably the Seattle Mariners and the Arizona Diamondbacks. His fastball was always his best pitch and was clocked at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). Although he did not set any official records, he is widely considered to be one of the fastest pitchers in MLB history.
