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Jacob Misiorowski (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
MLB pitchers have steadily thrown harder with each passing season, even as the league’s broader run-scoring environment has fluctuated over the past decade. That trend has continued into 2025, with league-wide fastball velocity once again on the rise:
What makes the modern era especially daunting for hitters is that today’s hardest throwers aren’t relying on raw velocity alone. Pitch shapes are more refined than ever, and secondary offerings are designed to play off elite fastballs with maximum intent.
It’s no longer just about how hard a pitch is thrown. It’s about how that velocity integrates into a complete arsenal.
Today, we’ll examine how some of baseball’s most electric arms are weaponizing their fastballs in a velocity-saturated landscape.
Triple‑Digit Starters
Only four starting pitchers have touched 100 mph at least five times this season:
The conversation starts with Misiorowski, who has taken the league by storm since debuting earlier in June.
The former Juco product has intrigued evaluators since joining the Brewers, but his national breakout came during the 2023 Futures Game. Now, the stuff is translating at the highest level.
What jumps out through Misiorowski’s first three starts is the suppression of contact quality. In a small sample (min. 25 balls in play), no pitcher has allowed a lower batting average, slugging percentage or weighted on-base average.
This is why, among his ERA estimators, xERA shines as so dominant. Conversely, the more traditional metrics are a bit behind (though still elite, to be clear).
The reason is that Misiorowski’s current 12.5 BB% would be the second-highest in the majors among qualified starters. He offsets it with a strikeout rate that would lead the league and a home run rate that appears lucky on paper, yet has been a consistent strength since his minor league days.
It’s outlier stuff on both ends. That’s what happens when you’re throwing 99.6 mph with the hardest slider and third-hardest curveball in the majors.
Then there’s Greene, currently on the injured list for the second time this season with groin and back issues. The silver lining is it’s not arm-related. Still, the spike in velocity has naturally raised some concerns about durability.
It was clear early in 2025 that this was a new version of Greene, one who had fully evolved….