The Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres broke the radar gun. On Saturday, in Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Brewers and Padres, the teams combined for an average fastball velocity of 98.50 mph. Baseball America's JJ Cooper it broke the record for the average fastball velocity in single game.
It felt like a definitive chapter in the story of the evolution of pitching into a game of who can throw the hardest with enough accuracy to find the plate. Yet only one day later, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves advanced the narrative even further. In Game 2 of their NLDS at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, five different pitchers threw a pitch clocked at 100 mph or more: the Dodgers' Edgardo Henriquez (who topped out at 103.0) mph, Roki Sasaki (102.1) and Edwin Diaz (100.8), and the Braves' Robert Suarez (101.4) and Didier Fuentes (101.2).
According to Cooper, it's the first time five different pitchers have been recorded throwing 100 mph in the same game. More news: Padres-Brewers NLDS Game Ends in Controversy After Fly Ball Hits Roof The Brewers boast the hardest-throwing starting pitcher in baseball history in Jacob Misiorowski. The right-hander threw his first pitch of the game to Fernando Tatis Jr. at 104.8 mph.
The presumptive NL Cy Young Award winner, Misiorowski can single-handedly life a radar gun to record heights. What the Dodgers and Braves did was different. Fuentes and Sasaki have been starting pitchers for most of their professional careers, but are seeing an uptick in velocity in the bullpen.
Diaz and Suarez are veteran closers who have been tossing triple-digit fastballs for years. Henriquez, 24, was part of the Dodgers' last two postseason bullpens. More news: One Number Explains Dodgers’ Curious Yoshinobu Yamamoto Decision Having one reliever on staff capable of throwing a triple-digit fastball is table stakes for an MLB team in 2026.
Having more than one is becoming par for the course. The 2025 season was the first in which every team had at least one pitcher throw a fastball 100.0 mph or faster. The 2026 season was the second.
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