Aroldis Chapman may finally have some competition for the title of baseball’s hardest-throwing pitcher.
Of course, the Cuban left-hander raised the bar even higher over the past week.
Chapman reached 105.1 mph Monday night, matching the fastest pitch since Major League Baseball started tracking speeds in 2008. Chapman – whose stint with the New York Yankees could end at any moment with the trade deadline approaching – threw 13 pitches of at least 104 mph from Monday through Saturday. Nobody in baseball had reached that mark all season until then.
Chapman’s fastball has been in a class by itself – to the point that MLB.com has a “Chapman Filter” on its Statcast leaderboard in case fans want to view the list of fastest pitches without him included. For the rest of this season, however, he might have some company. Mauricio Cabrera, a 22-year-old right-hander who made his major league debut for the Atlanta Braves in late June, reached 103.8 mph Monday night against Cincinnati.
The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Cabrera is 1-0 with a 2.19 ERA in 12 appearances, although all that power has led to only seven strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings. Cabrera’s four-seam fastball averages 100.7 mph, which is actually ahead of Chapman’s average four-seamer of 100.5.