Last week, Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks threw the two fastest pitches of the season (102.0 and 101.9 mph, respectively) during the same at-bat to White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson. He didn’t get his bat on either of them but somehow managed to draw a walk. Of course Hicks couldn’t last atop the leaderboard, so long as Aroldis Chapman was still playing.
Chapman supplanted Hicks in the ninth inning Tuesday, by way of a 103.3-mph pitch thrown at Jackie Bradley Jr. The Red Sox outfielder incredibly had time to turn into the pitch, which landed on his ribs.
Bradley, who has now been hit three times by Chapman, was somewhat unfazed by Chapman’s 100-mph stuff in 2014, but still provided some of that delicious, grisly imagery to MassLive at the time:
“It didn’t feel bad honestly,” said Bradley. “I don’t want him to try it again. But it doesn’t hurt that bad right now. Holler at me after the plane ride.”
“I was telling some of the guys, ‘good thing I got my morning lift in, because it might have went through me,’” Bradley said. “That ball probably still has some bone marrow juice on it. It might have touched bone a little bit.”
Trevor Bauer, for one, should be appalled if there was still bone marrow juice on last night’s ball, because Chapman threw some nasty sliders in the next at-bat to Christian Vázquez and coaxed a groundout to end the game.