Aroldis Chapman throwing a 99-mph fastball is nothing new, but that pitch sailing wide of the catcher and ripping through the protective netting behind home plate is a scary thought for the people paying big bucks for those seats.
That’s exactly what happened last night at Wrigley Field, although luckily no one was sitting directly behind the plate and (as shown by Chris Calo’s screen shot) the shredded netting was the only thing harmed by Chapman’s heat.
Chapman reined in his fastball enough to strike out two batters in a scoreless inning against the Cubs, giving him a 1.40 ERA and ridiculous 34 strikeouts in 19 innings since returning from the disabled list.
As for avoiding future incidents of the protective netting not being able to protect against Chapman’s fastball, I suppose all the ballparks could double-up with a second layer just to be safe. Or maybe it was an isolated incident in which the Wrigley Field netting already had a slight tear that made it weaker than usual. After all, while Chapman has MLB’s fastest fastball last night was hardly the first baseball--whether thrown or fouled back--to make contact with the netting traveling in the high-90s.
