Aroldis Chapman participant of 2010 Major League Baseball season
Albertín Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz (Spanish: [aˈɾoldis ˈtʃaβman]; born February 28, 1988) is a Cuban-born American professional baseball relief pitcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, and Kansas City Royals and in the Cuban National Series for Holguín. Chapman bats and throws left-handed, and is nicknamed the "Cuban Missile" or the "Cuban Flame Thrower".
Chapman pitched for Holguín domestically and internationally for the Cuban national baseball team. He defected from Cuba in 2009 and signed a contract with the Reds in 2010. Chapman made his MLB debut that season. He won the MLB Delivery Man of the Month Award as the best relief pitcher for July 2012, was named to four straight National League All-Star teams from 2012 to 2015. The Reds traded Chapman to the Yankees after the 2015 season, and the Yankees traded Chapman to the Cubs during the 2016 season. With the Cubs, Chapman won Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. He signed with the Yankees after the 2016 season.
On July 11, 2014, Chapman broke the record, previously held by Bruce Sutter, for the most consecutive relief appearances with a strikeout, having struck out at least one batter in 40 consecutive appearances. Chapman's streak began on August 21, 2013, and lasted 49 consecutive games over two seasons, with the 49th and final game being on August 13, 2014. Chapman currently has the record for the fastest recorded pitch speed in MLB history, at 105.1 miles per hour (169.1 km/h), as well as the Guinness World Record for fastest baseball pitch.Speed records
On September 24, 2010, against the San Diego Padres, Chapman was clocked at 105.1 mph (169.1 km/h), according to PITCHf/x, the fastest pitch ever recorded in Major League Baseball. On July 19, 2016, Chapman matched his previous record of 105.1 mph with a ball to Baltimore's J. J. Hardy. That record was tied by Jordan Hicks on May 20, 2018.On April 18, 2011, Chapman threw a pitch to Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen that the scoreboard at Great American Ball Park clocked at 106 mph (171 km/h), but the box on Fox Sports Ohio's broadcast listed it at 105 mph (169 km/h) and the PITCHf/x system calculated a release speed of 102.4 mph (164.8 km/h). The disparity between these speeds has been widely discussed and questioned.