Prior to Sunday's clean inning, Jordan Hicks had thrown eight pitches in the major leagues.
Hicks, a 21-year-old right-hander, cracked the Cardinals bullpen this spring despite having never ventured above High-A. His two successful outings have inspired hope, though they don't provide enough of a sample to make many definitive statements about him. Yet the early returns hint at this: Hicks could dethrone Aroldis Chapman as baseball's hardest thrower.
Unlike with statistics, velocity doesn't require a large sample to know whether or not it's legitimate. Throwing hard cannot be faked or forged. Sure, there are factors that can force a pitcher to throw softer than usual -- weather, injury, fatigue, whatever -- and there are calculation errors that can make a pitcher appear to throw harder than he really does. But none of the above seem to apply to Hicks.
Rather, Hicks had done something impressive entering play on Sunday. MLB.com tracks the fastest pitches of the season on one of its Statcast leaderboards. Chapman has so dominated the field that the leaderboard comes with a so-called "Chapman Filter" -- or the option to disqualify him from the conversation. Take a look at the fastest pitches through the season's first three days:
| Pitcher | Speed | Fastball | Perceived speed | Spin rate | Extension (Feet) | Result | Batter | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jordan Hicks | 101.6 mph | Two-seam | 101.4 mph | 2,233 rpm | 6.3 | Ball | Jay Bruce | 3/29/18 |
Jordan Hicks | 100.9 mph | Two-seam | 100.9 mph | 1,992 rpm | 6.3 | Single | Brandon Nimmo | 3/29/18 |
Aroldis Chapman | 100.8 mph | Four-seam | 102.1 mph | 2,523 rpm | 6.9 | Swinging strike | Justin Smoak | 3/30/18 |
Jordan Hicks | 100.8 mph | Two-seam | 100.5 mph | 2,266 rpm | 6.2 | Foul | Justin Bruce | 3/29/18 |
Aroldis Chapman | 100.5 mph | Four-seam | 100.8 mph | 2,573 rpm | 6.5 | Foul | Josh Donaldson | 3/30/18 |
Jordan Hicks | 100.3 mph | Four-seam | 99.7 mph | 2,240 rpm | 6.2 | Called strike | Brandon Nimmo | 3/29/18 |
Aroldis Chapman | 100.3 mph | Two-seam | 101.7 mph | 2,583 rpm | 7.0 | Called strike | Randall Grichuk | 3/30/18 |
Luis Severino | 100.2 mph | Four-seam | 99.6 mph | 2,415 rpm | 6.2 | Swinging strike | Devon Travis | 3/29/18 |
Aroldis Chapman | 100.2 mph | Four-seam | 101.0 mph | 2,645 rpm | 6.7 | Foul | Kendrys Morales | 3/29/18 |
Aroldis Chapman | 100.2 mph | Four-seam | 100.8 mph | 2,569 rpm | 6.7 | Ball | Steven Pearce | 3/30/18 |
Luis Severino | 100.1 mph | Four-seam | 99.6 mph | 2,465 rpm | 6.3 | Field out | Josh Donaldson | 3/29/18 |
Jordan Hicks | 99.8 mph | Four-seam | 99.5 mph | 2,172 rpm | 6.1 | Swinging strike | Jay Bruce | 3/29/18 |
Jordan Hicks | 99.7 mph | Two-seam | 99.4 mph | 2,193 rpm | 6.2 | GIDP | Yoenis Cespedes | 3/29/18 |
Luis Severino | 99.7 mph | Four-seam | 99.4 mph | 2,281 rpm | 6.3 | Foul | Devin Travis | 3/29/18 |
Jordan Hicks | 99.7 mph | Two-seam | 99.8 mph | 2,041 rpm | 6.6 | Ball | Brandon Nimmo | 3/29/18 |
Yup, there's a pattern there. Hicks had the two fastest, as well as three of the top four, six of the top seven, and seven of the top 15. Only Chapman and New York Yankees starter Luis Severino have been equipped with enough arm strength to reach Hicks's impressive heights. By the way, Hicks threw six fastballs on Sunday -- they averaged 99.7 mph and topped out at 101. The slowest went 98.8 mph, per Statcast.
Before anyone asks, it doesn't seem like Hicks is benefiting from a technological error. Hicks threw in the same game as New York Mets starter Noah Syndergaard, who saw his fastball clock in hot, but still about a full mile per hour slower than last year's average. If Hicks's pitches were recording a little hotter than normal, it stands to reason that so would Syndergaard's. Besides, the scouting reports on Hicks support the idea that he's a genuine flamethrower -- one capable of sitting in the upper-90s and touching into triple digits.
Hicks is, therefore, a legitimate candidate to become the fastest pitcher in baseball.
