MLB All-Star Game: Five events that should be added

4. Fastest Pitch

Everybody looks forward to the Hardest Shot competition at the NHL All-Star skills competition. Before Shea Weber, there was Zdeno Chara. Hockey fans everywhere stopped what they were doing to see how hard Chara could shoot a puck. Baseball fans everywhere might be willing to do the same thing to see who can throw the hardest fastball.

That dubious honor currently belongs to Aroldis Chapman of the New York Yankees. Not only has he thrown the fastest fastball ever, he has thrown a comical amount of the 100+ miles per hour pitches, accounting for roughly half of such pitches.

There would be some inherent risk involved in this competition, as a pitcher could easily injure themselves while doing so. However, pitching in itself is a very violent act that puts a lot of stress on the arm, elbow, and shoulder to begin with. It wouldn’t be any more risky than pitching already is.

While Chapman might have thrown the fastest pitch ever, there are some pitchers who could give him a good run for his money. Chapman’s average fastball is 99.8 miles per hour. Noah Syndergaard isn’t too far off at 98.1 miles per hour on average. Bruce Rondon of the Tigers, Craig Kimbrel of the Boston Red Sox, Kelvin Herrera of the Kansas City Royals, and even Chapman’s teammate Nathan Eovaldi could all give Chapman a good run for his money.

Next: 3. Farthest Throw