Baseball has always had an obsession with velocity. There is something uniquely intimidating about a pitcher standing 60 feet, 6 inches away and firing a baseball toward home plate at more than 100 mph. But determining who threw the fastest pitch in MLB history comes with a catch.
Pitchers from earlier generations are sometimes credited with extraordinary velocities, but measuring methods varied considerably before modern tracking technology arrived. That makes comparisons with today’s readings difficult. For a reliable leaderboard, the focus has to remain on pitches recorded using modern tracking data.
And when it comes to that list, one name appears over and over again: Aroldis Chapman.
Aroldis Chapman Still Owns MLB’s Fastest Pitch
Chapman owns the fastest regular-season pitch on record at 105.8 mph, thrown on Sept. 24, 2010. He nearly matched that mark six years later, reaching 105.7 mph on July 18, 2016.
Ben Joyce came remarkably close in 2024.
On Sept. 3, the Los Angeles Angels reliever unleashed a 105.5 mph fastball to strike out Los Angeles Dodgers hitter Tommy Edman. The pitch became the fastest recorded in several years and set the record for the fastest strikeout pitch.
Here are the fastest regular-season pitches on the list:
- Aroldis Chapman — 105.8 mph (Sept. 24, 2010)
- Aroldis Chapman — 105.7 mph (July 18, 2016)
- Ben Joyce — 105.5 mph (Sept. 3, 2024)
- Aroldis Chapman — 105.4 mph (July 18, 2016)
- Aroldis Chapman — 105.2 mph (July 22, 2016)
- Aroldis Chapman — 105.1 mph (Aug. 7, 2024)
- Aroldis Chapman — 105.1 mph (Aug. 2, 2016)
- Aroldis Chapman — 105.1 mph (July 22, 2016)
- Aroldis Chapman — 105.1 mph (July 18, 2016)
- Jordan Hicks — 105.0 mph (May 20, 2018)
- Aroldis Chapman — 105.0 mph (July 23, 2016)
- Jordan Hicks — 105.0 mph (May 20, 2018)
The list extends beyond 10 individual pitches because several are tied at 105 mph. More striking is Chapman’s dominance. He accounts for eight of the first nine entries and nine of the 12 pitches listed.
Mason Miller Takes the Postseason Velocity Record
The postseason leaderboard tells a somewhat different story.
In Game 2 of the 2025 National League Wild Card Series, Mason Miller fired a 104.5 mph pitch, setting the record for the fastest pitch in MLB playoff history. That pushed Chapman, who had held the postseason mark with a 103.7 mph pitch in the 2017 American League Wild Card Game, into second place.
Miller also owns two more spots among the fastest postseason pitches recorded, including a 103.3 mph offering from the same Game 2 appearance.
The playoff leaderboard is:
- Mason Miller — 104.5 mph (2025 NL Wild Card Series, Game 2)
- Aroldis Chapman — 103.7 mph (2017 AL Wild Card Game)
- Mason Miller — 103.3 mph (2025 NL Wild Card Series, Game 2)
- Aroldis Chapman — 103.2 mph (2016 NLCS, Game 1)
- Aroldis Chapman — 103.2 mph (2016 NLDS, Game 2)
- Aroldis Chapman — 103.1 mph (2016 NLDS, Game 4)
- Aroldis Chapman — 103.0 mph (2017 AL Wild Card Game)
- Mason Miller — 102.9 mph (2025 NL Wild Card Series, Game 1)
Miller’s 104.5 mph playoff record remains slower than the very top regular-season readings, but October brings a different kind of pressure. Every pitch can carry season-ending consequences, and Miller still managed to push the radar reading into territory no postseason pitcher had previously reached.
Chapman, Miller and Joyce Sit Atop the Record Book
Chapman’s longevity on both lists is equally difficult to ignore. His fastest recorded pitches span years, with elite readings appearing in 2010, throughout 2016, in the 2017 postseason and again during the 2024 regular season.
For now, the two records belong to different pitchers: Chapman holds the regular-season mark at 105.8 mph, while Miller owns the postseason record at 104.5 mph. Joyce, meanwhile, sits just three-tenths of a mile per hour behind Chapman’s overall mark after his 105.5 mph strikeout pitch in 2024.
