NEW YORK -- Amed Rosario crouched and coiled, priming his body to react to mankind's fastest pitch. No one throws harder than Aroldis Chapman, author of the 18 fastest fastballs in the Majors this season. Pitchers in the Pacific Coast League don't throw 103 mph.
As Rosario soaked in the loudness of 46,474 fans Tuesday at Yankee Stadium -- "something that I've never experienced before in my life," he said -- Chapman started him out with two sliders, then a 100-mph pitch. In a 2-1 count, the closer went back to the slider. Rosario uncoiled.