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Last September, Cincinnati Reds hurler Aroldis Chapman attained the title of having Major League Baseball’s fastest pitch ever recorded, clocking 105.1 in a regular season game against the San Diego Padres.
The historic pitch was electronically logged by Sportvision’s PITCHf/x, a revolutionary system of determining pitch speed, which began appearing in 2006.
Chapman threw a total of 25 pitches during the memorable outing — not one pitch dipped below the century mark. In fact, up to this point last year, 47 percent of the young reliever’s rookie year total of 159 pitches had reached at least 100.
In celebration of his feat, the Cuban phenom later tattooed “105.1” on his left wrist, along with a baseball and trail of flames.
After Monday’s home outing, inside Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark, the “Cuban Missile” might be in need of an upgrade.
The lefty received a standing ovation after clocking an extraordinary 106 in the ninth inning — a speed that easily breaks his previous record.
Due to major controversy, the record has yet to be validated completely. The problem of accuracy arose when, after the pitch, three different speeds were provided by three different systems of pitch speed analysis.
The first, and highest of all three, was the display of 106 across the ballpark’s mega-scoreboard — a system of calculations that begins with the detection of speed from a radar gun which generally targets from behind home plate. The second, and second-highest, was Fox Sports Ohio’s marking of 105, which appeared inside the broadcast’s cornered box score. The third, and lowest, was the reading of 102.4 by the trusty PITCHf/x system that had once recorded Chapman’s record pitch less than one year ago.
Whether or not Chapman actually broke his own record, the pitch was unarguably fast. For two different readings of the pitch to be separated by 3.6 MPH is ridiculous, especially with the increasing accuracy of modern day technology.
Defected from Cuba in 2009, 23-year-old Chapman was forced to leave behind his family, girlfriend and baby daughter to play professionally. Since his time in the United States, Chapman has been a mystery to fans and even his manager, Reds skipper Dusty Baker, who stated during spring training this year that, “[Chapman’s] a fine young man, but he’s still a mystery to us a little bit. You’re curious about his background, but you don’t want to pry.”
Within the past decade, Major League Baseball has seen 10 different pitchers clock times faster than 102 MPH, and the speed of the average fastball just keeps rising. With the century mark being an easy mark to hit, Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan’s speed — that once attributed him as a freak of nature — will eventually become the league norm.
There’s no doubt that the scariest situation for the Reds front office administration would be to witness the flame-throwing Chapman “burn out” — and without proper rest and rehabilitation, this could surely be the root for an early exit to the talented and youthful sensation. At this point, Chapman could be remembered as one of the greatest pitchers to ever take the mound.
Or, he could flame out as fast as he throws.
