No, you're not imagining it -- pitchers are throwing faster than ever this season

PHILADELPHIA -- If you want to know just how much harder pitchers are throwing than even a decade ago, just ask some of this generation’s best hitters.

“We talk about this in the clubhouse all the time, just how much velo has changed,” three-time MVP Mike Trout said earlier this week at the All-Star Game. “For me, when I first came up, it was probably around 90-91 [mph] for starters, and now I think the average is like 95. And you’re just seeing a lot more guys throw 100, 100-plus.”

The numbers back it up.

In Trout's 2012 rookie season, the average four-seam fastball thrown by a starting pitcher was 91.8 mph. This season, it’s 94.6 mph. That’s the highest it’s been at any point in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008), and that number has steadily increased each year since 2018.

Is it as obvious in the batter’s box as it seems on paper?

“One-hundred percent, you notice it,” said Braves first baseman Matt Olson, who debuted in 2016. “When I first came up, a guy who got called up to make a start was more of a pitchability kind of guy -- you know, 88-91 [mph]. … Now, it feels like even the callups are 98 [mph]. It's been a big difference.”

Of course, any conversation about velocity has to start with Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski. The two-time All-Star has already shattered every velocity record for starting pitchers in the pitch-tracking era, and he seems to only be getting better -- and throwing harder.

Misiorowski’s four-seamer is averaging 100.5 mph this season. Factor in the extension Misiorowski has as he gets down the mound, and the perceived velocity to hitters is even faster than that.

Misiorowski’s final two pitches in a complete-game shutout against the Phillies last month clocked in at 103.4 mph and 103.1 mph.

“It’s a lot of work from people behind me and in the training room and the weight room and all that,” Misiorowski said. “They’ve all helped a lot.”

It used to be only relievers -- and maybe a starter or two -- who would hit triple digits with any regularity. Now, hitters are seeing it from the very first pitch of the night, and sometimes, all the way through the entire game.

Entering this season, the most 100-plus mph pitches thrown by starting pitchers in a single season was 726 last year. In the first half alone, there were already 1,018 such pitches this season. And yes, a big part of that is Misiorowski's 670 -- but he's just one of 22 starting pitchers who have hit 100 mph this season.

Beyond that, 14 starters have thrown at least five triple-digit fastballs this season. Back in 2015, only five guys did that all season.

“What do we have, like 0.05 seconds to make a decision?” said 10-time All-Star Freddie Freeman, who made his MLB debut in 2010. “And now, these guys are making it be 0.03 seconds. It’s very, very hard. That's why you see us look very funny in the box sometimes.”

But even the younger guys never thought they’d be facing pitches this fast … did they?

“No way,” said 25-year-old Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams. “But when I was growing up, it was like 100 [mph] is kinda crazy. Now it’s just going up and up, and it seems like everyone is throwing 100.”

Added Trout: “No, no, no. … Right now, 95 is the norm. It’s such a big difference, especially when some of these guys are throwing 95 mph sliders to go with it.”

But what about the pitchers? These guys have spent their whole lives trying to increase those numbers on the radar guns, but some of these numbers they’re hitting now had to seem unattainable as they were chasing their big league dreams.

“I think I got to 85 and I was like, ‘I don’t know what else is really in there for me,’” said Padres shutdown closer Mason Miller, whose average fastball this season is 101.3 mph. “So I’ve been extremely fortunate to have everything happen the way it has.”

So, where do we go from here?

The fastest pitch in the tracking era is a 105.8 mph fastball by Aroldis Chapman on Sept. 24, 2010. Misiorowski's fastest is 105.5 mph -- and he said he slipped on that pitch, adding: “I think I've got a little more.”

“I don't like facing it. I'm glad I'm almost done and I’m near the end,” Freeman said. “Because who knows how many Jacob Misiorowskis are going to be in the league in about 10 years? But hey, it's fun to watch.”