Aroldis Chapman Sets Fastball Velocity Mark For Record Sixth MLB Team

Image credit: Aroldis Chapman (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Hall of Famers Walter Johnson, Bob Feller and Nolan Ryan were regarded as the hardest throwers of their time, long before the days of omnipresent radar guns.

In the past 40 years, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Billy Wagner and Justin Verlander are the most decorated Best Fastball category winners in BA Best Tools voting.

But one man stands alone as baseball’s speed king: Aroldis Chapman.

Chapman has thrown a pitch faster than 100 mph in 16 straight seasons, a record for the pitch-tracking era. His 98.9 mph average fastball velocity is the fastest among pitchers with at least 500 career innings since 2002, the first year for which velocity data is available at FanGraphs.

Chapman combines extreme heat with extreme durability in measures that even past flame-throwing closers such Goose Gossage, Wagner or contemporary Craig Kimbrel could not surpass. 

Remarkably, the 37-year-old Chapman is still at it this season as the primary closer for the Red Sox. Recently, he extended a record that is likely to be an unbreakable one.

By throwing a 102.3 mph fastball on April 19, Chapman set the standard for fastest documented fastball thrown by a Red Sox pitcher. He later upped the ante to 103.4 mph on April 26.

Now, Chapman has thrown the fastest pitch for six different MLB teams since the advent of Pitch f/x tracking technology in 2008.

No other pitcher owns the velocity record for more than two teams. Active pitchers Jordan Hicks and Andres Muñoz are still in their primes and can’t be ruled out entirely as challengers, but they need to continue at their current pace of dominance and durability to cover four additional teams.

In succession, Chapman threw the fastest fastball for the Reds, Yankees, Cubs, Royals, Pirates and Red Sox. He has set the speed standard for every team for which he has played—except for the Rangers.

Former closer Neftali Feliz holds the Texas franchise record for peak velocity. He threw a pitch tracked at 104.1 mph in 2010, his American League Rookie of the Year season.

The top mark Chapman registered for Texas was 101.7 mph. But to be fair, he spent only June, July, August and September of 2023 with the Rangers following a trade from the Royals. In the 2023 postseason, Chapman hit 101.5 mph for the World Series-champion Rangers.

Here are the peak velocity leaders for all 30 MLB teams, as sourced from Baseball Savant’s MLB Statcast search tool.

J.J. Cooper performed the Statcast research for this piece.

Team	Pitcher	Year	Peak Velo
Arizona Diamondbacks	Justin Martinez	2024	103.0
Atlanta Braves	Mauricio Cabrera	2016	104.2
Baltimore Orioles	Felix Bautista	2023	103.4
Boston Red Sox	Aroldis Chapman	2025	103.4
Chicago Cubs	Aroldis Chapman	2016	105.1
Chicago White Sox	Gregory Santos	2023	103.1
Cincinnati Reds	Aroldis Chapman	2010	105.8
Cleveland Guardians	Emmanuel Clase	2024	103.0
Colorado Rockies	Julian Fernandez	2021	102.8
Detroit Tigers	Bruce Rondon	2013	103.5
Houston Astros	Ken Giles	2016	101.7
Kansas City Royals	Aroldis Chapman	2023	103.8
Los Angeles Angels	Ben Joyce	2024	105.5
Los Angeles Dodgers	Jonathan Broxton	2009	103.3
Miami Marlins	Tayron Guerrero	2018	104.0
Milwaukee Brewers	Abner Uribe	2023	103.3
Minnesota Twins	Jhoan Duran	2023	104.8
New York Mets	Bobby Parnell	2011	103.2
New York Yankees	Aroldis Chapman	2016	105.7
Oakland Athletics	Henry A. Rodriguez	2010	103.9
Philadelphia Phillies	Jose Alvarado	2021	102.5
Pittsburgh Pirates	Aroldis Chapman	2024	105.1
St. Louis Cardinals	Jordan Hicks	2018	105.0
San Diego Padres	Andres Munoz	2019	102.8
San Francisco Giants	Camilo Doval	2022	104.0
Seattle Mariners	Andres Munoz	2022	103.2
Tampa Bay Rays	Mason Montgomery	2025	102.2
Texas Rangers	Neftali Feliz	2010	104.1
Toronto Blue Jays	Jordan Hicks	2023	103.2
Washington Nationals	Henry A. Rodriguez	2013	103.0