It took Jacob Misiorowski three pitches to make history. On Friday night at American Family Field, the Milwaukee Brewers' 24-year-old right-hander threw a fastball that Statcast clocked at 105.5 mph to the Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong — tying for the third-fastest pitch ever recorded since the technology began tracking velocity in 2008.
Where it ranks
Only one pitcher has ever thrown harder in the tracking era: Aroldis Chapman, whose 105.8 mph pitch in 2010 remains the fastest officially measured, with a 105.7 mph effort to follow. Misiorowski's 105.5 mph equals the mark set by Los Angeles Angels reliever Ben Joyce in 2024, Sports Illustrated noted.
What sets Misiorowski's pitch apart is the role he plays. Chapman and Joyce are relievers, brought in to throw all-out for an inning or less. Misiorowski is a starter, expected to last six or seven innings — making sustained triple-digit velocity all the more striking. The pitch was the fastest ever thrown by a starting pitcher in the tracking era, surpassing his own previous best of 104.5 mph set roughly two weeks earlier.
A breakout season
Nicknamed "The Miz," Misiorowski entered the start with a 1.45 earned run average, the best in the major leagues, in his first full season. Against the Cubs he worked six innings, allowing two hits and one earned run — a solo home run by Seiya Suzuki — while striking out eight. The Brewers won 6-2.
His velocity was relentless all night, not just on the record pitch: he averaged 101.6 mph with his four-seam fastball and, with the bases loaded in the sixth, struck out Ian Happ on a 102.8 mph heater. Afterward, Misiorowski suggested there may be more in the tank. "I think I slipped a little bit on that pitch," he said. "I think I've got a little more."
The velocity arms race
Misiorowski's outing sits at the leading edge of a long trend. Average fastball speeds across Major League Baseball have risen steadily over the past 15 years, pushed up by specialized training, biomechanical coaching and a focus on raw arm strength. Relievers first nudged the ceiling toward 105 mph; a starter now operating in that range, and holding triple digits deep into a game, points to a new frontier. With Chapman's record sitting just three-tenths of a mile per hour above Friday's pitch, baseball's true speed limit may not yet have been found.
