No one is throwing the ball harder than Los Angeles Angels rookie Ben Joyce right now, and he’s getting closer to a point where no one in history has ever done it.
With a 105.5 mph fastball to retire Los Angeles Dodgers utility man Tommy Edman, Joyce fell 0.3 mph short of throwing the fastest pitch in MLB history. Only Aroldis Chapman, with pitches of 105.8 mph and 105.7 mph, has thrown the ball harder from the mound.
The radar indicated a speed of 106 mph.
The field is also the field with the fastest strikeout rate in MLB history.
This isn’t the first time Joyce has hit 105.5 mph, as he did it in college when he was a flamethrower at Tennessee. His heat has been known for years, and his success has always been a matter of mastering his command. So far, that’s been a relative success in 2024.
Joyce’s place in history has its limitations, however. Statcast has only been around since 2015, with MLB tracking pitches using the less reliable PITCHf/x system from 2006 through 2015, when Chapman’s record pitch was recorded.
Before PITCHf/x, pitches were measured with the even-less-reliable radar guns, in a way that arguably did speed gods of the past like Nolan Ryan a disservice. MLB pitchers have never been better trained to reach blazing speeds, but limitations in measurement make claiming the title of “fastest pitcher ever” a bit more difficult than you might like.
And of course, that speed didn’t matter much to the Angels, as Mookie Betts’ 104.4 mph ball in overtime proved to have more impact in a 6-2 Dodgers victory.
It all made for an eventful return to Angel Stadium for Shohei Ohtani.
