SI

Rookie Ben Joyce Broke a Record for Fastest Strikeout Pitch in MLB History

Joyce's season has been strong.

Josh Wilson

Joyce threw over 105 miles per hour on Tuesday night.
Joyce threw over 105 miles per hour on Tuesday night. / Denny Medley-Imagn Images
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The Los Angeles Angels may have found their closer. Ben Joyce, whose rookie status is intact through 2024, has displayed tantalizing velocity in his first full season at the big league level this year.

Tuesday night, he reached a new mark, hurling a 105.5 mile-per-hour fastball with pinpoint accuracy, dotting the lower inside corner of the strike zone. Joyce turned around in confidence after getting the batter, Tommy Edman, to whiff.

A strikeout pitch to end the top of the ninth inning in a tie game is great in any situation. But this one was even more special, as it was the fastest strikeout pitch of all time (since MLB has tracked pitch velocity).

Other pitchers (mainly: Aroldis Chapman) have thrown faster pitches, but never on strikeout pitches.

As Sarah Langs pointed out, Joyce joins elite company here:

With the season winding down, the Angels have begun to use Joyce in a closer role. Since August 4, he has finished nine of the team's most recent 11 games, earning a save in four of them. The Angels didn't get the win Tuesday, losing in extras, but it was to no fault of Joyce, who held the Dodgers scoreless in his one inning of work.

The Angels have Joyce under team control until 2030, and he has made it clear he should be one of their most prized possessions to build around.

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Josh Wilson

JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

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