Mariners Analysis: Edwin Diaz and Aroldis Chapman Set To Bring The Heat

It will be a battle of flamethrowers this weekend when the Mariners play the Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

This next series against the Chicago Cubs will showcase two of the hardest throwing men in baseball, Aroldis Chapman and Edwin Diaz. It will be a must-see event in the later innings.

They aren’t birds, they aren’t planes, but the are as fast as a speeding bullet and as powerful as a locomotive. No, I am not talking about Supermen trying to take down Lex Luther, I am talking about the fastballs thrown by Chapman and Diaz that cut threw the sixty feet six inches of air with menacing intent, and reach their target in less the four-hundredths of a second.

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It is a truly a sight to behold- if you manage not to blink- when either man steps to the mound. Both standing tall at over six feet, three inches (Diaz is the shorter of the two by a inch) batters would already being quivering in the cleats, but the experience of facing them becomes far more daunting for any man at the plate once a pitch is thrown.

Diaz, the younger of the two relievers, is new to the major leagues, appearing in his first game on June 6th this year, but his ability to thrown a fireball past a batter is just about equal to that of the fastest pitcher on the planet, Chapman. In his debut he reached triple digits, topping out at one-hundred and one miles an hour, not what you would expect from a twenty-two year old man-child, who would barely qualify for a light-heavy weight bout.

When Diaz showed ROOT Sports his fastball, it was clear that the key to his grip, and consequently his power, came from his big, long fingers that cover most of the baseball. His grip has also aided his control; he has walked just six batters in twenty-two and the-thirds innings as a rookie. In that same span he has struck out forty-four batters, giving him a K/BB ratio more the likes of Clayton Kershaw at 22/3. But even more astounding about his strike out ability is the frequency of them. His 17.47 K/9 is the highest by any pitcher, ever in his rookie season when pitching at least twenty innings as a reliever.

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For Chapman, everyone already knows his shtick, it’s been publicized nationally and internationally, after all, he has set the world record for fastest pitch thrown at the major league level, surpassing one-hundred and five miles an hour. Ever since he found consistent success with the heat in Cincinnati with the Reds, Chapman has been a coveted talent.

Having switch alliances and leagues to spend some time with the Yankees, the Big Apple, arguably the biggest stage to show-off athletic talents got to witness the mesmerizing pitcher throw the stitches off the ball. But his recent trade to the World Series hopefuls the Chicago Cubs has made this series possible.

This will be the first time the two flame-throwers will be in the same ballpark, and it should be treat. Their fastballs, make fans ooh and ahh in unique ways, they make batters laugh in embarrassment, and they help to win ball-games, wins that both teams are hoping for in their respective playoff races.

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