Stephen Strasburg, David Price are this year’s hardest throwers
Apr 24, 2012, 6:10 PM EDT
Getty Images Among starting pitchers anyway. Here’s the top 10 for fastball velocity among ERA qualifiers this season (data taken from Fangraphs):
1. Stephen Strasburg (Was) – 95.4 mph
2. David Price (TB) – 95.2
3. Danny Duffy (KC) – 95.0
4. Jeff Samardzija (ChC) – 94.7
5. Juan Nicasio (Col) – 94.1
6. Matt Garza (ChC) – 94.0
7. Neftali Feliz (Tex) – 93.9
8. Justin Verlander (Det) – 93.9
9. Kyle Drabek (Tor) – 93.8
10. Max Scherzer (Det) – 93.7
11. Daniel Hudson (Ari) – 93.7
- Verlander was the leader among full-time starters last year, coming in at 95.0, so he’s down a bit early. Right behind him last year was David Price at 94.8. Price is actually up a bit so far this season.
- Yu Darvish clocks in at 93.0 with his heater and 89.4 with his cutter.
- Tim Lincecum is down from 92.3 mph last year to 90.2 mph this year, according to Fangraphs data. Felix Hernandez has experienced a similar drop from 93.3 to 91.4.
- Interesting to note is that Mike Pelfrey just missed the list, coming in at 93.5 before landing on the DL today with swelling in his elbow. That’s a signficant increase from the 92.0 and 92.2 he was at the previous two years.
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- cruuuzcontrol - Apr 24, 2012 at 6:37 PM
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Not surprised Pelfrey is throwing so hard that he hurt himself. That’s so…. Pelfrey.
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- ikedavisnose - Apr 24, 2012 at 9:43 PM
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That is Oh So Sadly True
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- whodeytn - Apr 24, 2012 at 10:33 PM
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Chapman makes them all look like children
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- silverdeer - Apr 25, 2012 at 9:02 AM
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I agree that AC can throw harder than them for an inning or two. However, I would like to see him dial it up to triple digits in the 9th after throwing 100 pitches. Only one I know that does that is Verlander.
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- bleed4philly - Apr 25, 2012 at 1:46 AM
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Surprised Jamie Moyer isn’t on this list.
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- koreanfandeath - Apr 25, 2012 at 9:31 AM
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I’ve heard of guys with “Reagan Era” fastballs in mid to upper 80′s, but Moyer continues to amaze.
