Carlos Ruiz hit a 103.5 mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman for a double in the eighth inning last night in Game 3 of the NLDS.

Nobody has hit heat like that.

Let me explain. Pitch f/x data goes back to 2008, but SABR’s Trent McCotter found that nobody had hit a faster pitch than Ruiz. Here’s a look at McCotter’s list from the past three seasons:

• 103.5 mph: Carlos Ruiz v. Chapman, double, 10/10/2010
• 102.0 mph: Carlos Gonzalez v. Chapman, single, 9/6/2010
• 101.7 mph: Adam Dunn v. Joel Zumaya, single, 6/17/2010
• 101.5 mph: Derrek Lee v. Zumaya, single, 6/23/2009
• 101.4 mph: Mike Lowell v. Zumaya, single, 6/4/2009
• 101.4 mph: Alfonso Soriano v. Zumaya, single, 6/24/2009
• 101.1 mph: Scott Podsednik v. Zumaya, single, 6/11/2009
• 101.1 mph: Paul Konerko v. Zumaya, double, 6/8/2010
• 101.0 mph: Kazuo Matsui v. Zumaya, single, 6/26/2009
• 101.0 mph: Jason Kubel v. Justin Verlander, single, 9/19/2009

As McCotter points out, Ruiz’s pitch was 1.5 mph faster than Gonzalez’s pitch. That might not seem like much, but he said 1.5 mph is a significant gap when we’re talking about three years of data.

McCotter also found it’s the first time a 103+ mph pitch has been put into play. Of the 19 pitches that pitch f/x has record at 103+ mph:

• 12 were balls
• 3 were fouls
• 1 was a swinging strike
• 2 were called strikes
• 1 was a double (Ruiz)

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