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FastestThings

Baseball

Aroldis Chapman

Fastest recorded pitch in the MLB tracking era: 105.8 mph on 24 September 2010. The original PitchF/X reading of that pitch was 105.1 mph.

Also known as Chapman 105.8
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Ball speed

Published as 105.8 mphPublished as 105.8 mphPublished as 105.8 mph

Fastest recorded pitch in the MLB tracking era, pitch tracking from 2008. Aroldis Chapman, Cincinnati Reds at San Diego, PETCO Park, 24 September 2010. Statcast release-point speed. The PitchF/X reading of this pitch was 105.1 mph. Exit velocity is a different list.

OfficialMLB.com (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 1.6× a cheetah's timed top speedSourced · Cheetah, 29 m/s. Sharp 1997, mean of three timed runs over 201.2 m
  • A football field in 1.9 sConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)
  • London to New York in 32 h 43 minConstant · London to New York, 5,570 km great-circle

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

Mechanism

Why it's so fast

Aroldis Chapman's fastball is arm speed delivered through a long lever at release. The ranked figure is the pitch speed the measurement system printed, not an exit velocity off a bat.

  1. The whip

    Legs, hips, shoulder and elbow line up so the ball leaves at the end of the motion. A longer path helps only if the timing still snaps.

  2. Pitch speed, only

    Exit velocity is a different list. This row stays on the pitch the sources timed.

Nearby on this list: Ben Joyce.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 170km/h105.8mph47.3m/s91.9knRanked figure

    Fastest recorded pitch in the MLB tracking era, pitch tracking from 2008. Aroldis Chapman, Cincinnati Reds at San Diego, PETCO Park, 24 September 2010. Statcast release-point speed. The PitchF/X reading of this pitch was 105.1 mph. Exit velocity is a different list.

    Guinness prints 105.8 mph (170.2686 km/h) on 24 September 2010, measured by Statcast. SABR says the Statcast hand-speed revision added 0.7 mph to the 105.1 mph PitchF/X reading. That is one pitch, not two records.

    Official
    MLB.com (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Pitcher
Aroldis Chapman
Scope
MLB pitch tracking since 2008
Speed
105.8 mph
Date
24 September 2010

Context

Background

MLB.com's Statcast speed hall of fame prints the fastest pitch as 105.8 mph by Aroldis Chapman on 24 September 2010, with pitch data from 2008. Guinness prints the same 105.8 mph, also written 170.2686 km/h, for Chapman of the Cincinnati Reds against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on 24 September 2010, and says Statcast began recording velocities in 2008. The Society for American Baseball Research says PitchF/X measured the pitch at 105.1 mph and that the later Statcast revision, which times the ball as it leaves the hand, added 0.7 mph, so the pitch is now 105.8 mph.

The ranked figure is 105.8 mph. 105.1 mph is the old reading of that pitch, not a second throw. Other pitches MLB lists at 105.5 mph appear on the league page alone, so they are not rows. A batted-ball speed is exit velocity and is not on this list.

Spot a wrong number?

Every report is read by a person, and corrections are dated on the page.