Kansas City Royals' Aroldis Chapman Leading the League in This Special Statistic
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Even at the age of 35, Kansas City Royals reliever Aroldis Chapman still has elite fastball velocity.
In fact, Chapman has perhaps the best velocity in the league still from the left-side. The Twitter account @CodifyBaseball gave some more information:
The 25 fastest in-zone pitches thrown this season by left-handed MLB pitchers have all been thrown by Aroldis Chapman.
So basically, a lefty may have thrown a pitch harder than Chapman this year, but it hasn't been a strike. Chapman has the best consistent velocity of any lefty -- and isn't afraid to challenge hitters with it.
As the Royals continue to put up a clunker of a season (15-35, last place in AL Central), Chapman will be a name that's talked about approaching the trade deadline. For teams looking for bullpen help, he'd be a nice addition. In fact, the Royals were already getting calls on him as of a few weeks ago.
This season, Chapman is 1-2 with a 2.89 ERA for Kansas City while adding two saves. He has a 14.9 k/9, showing he still has the ability to strike batters out at a high clip.
Chapman is 45-37 for his career with a 2.49 ERA and has registered 317 saves. He's played for the Cincinnati Reds (six years), the New York Yankees (seven years) and the Cubs (0.5 years) in addition to the Royals.
He helped the Cubs win the 2016 World Series after being a trade deadline acquisition. Maybe we'll see the same outcome in 2023.
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