Nobody throws the ball harder than Los Angeles Angels rookie Ben Joyce right now. He’s getting closer to doing it, something no one in history has ever done.
With a 105.5 mph fastball that struck out Los Angeles Dodgers player Tommy Edman, Joyce fell 0.3 mph short of throwing the fastest pitch recorded 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 transmission showed a speed of 106 mph.
The pitch is also the fastest strikeout pitch recorded in MLB history.
This isn’t the first time Joyce has hit 105.5 mph, as he also did it in college when he was a flamethrower pitcher at Tennessee. His speed has been known for years, and his success has always been just a matter of controlling his command. So far, he’s been a relative success in 2024.
Joyce’s place in history has its limitations, however. Statcast has only been around since 2015, and MLB tracked pitches with the less reliable PITCHf/x system from 2006 through 2015, when Chapman’s record-breaking pitch was recorded.
Before PITCHf/x, pitches were measured with even less reliable radar guns, in a way that potentially hurt former speed gods like Nolan Ryan. MLB pitchers have never been better trained to reach high velocities, but limitations in measurement make the title of “fastest pitcher ever” a bit more complicated than one might like.
And of course, that speed didn’t matter much to the Angels, as the 104.4 mph ball that came off the bat of Mookie Betts in extra innings ended up being more impactful in the Dodgers’ 6-2 victory.
All of that made Shohei Ohtani’s return to Angel Stadium an eventful one.
