Cincinnati's Aroldis Chapman will be the second rookie to debut as the fastest thrower in all of video game baseball when he and his 103-mph heater are uploaded to MLB 2K10 sometime later this evening.
Chapman, consistently clocked at more than 100 mph, will arrive on MLB 10 The Show with next week's roster update, a Sony spokesman said. The Reds phenom debuted on Tuesday, won his first game in relief on Wednesday, and has been the talk of baseball this week.
"He will have a very high rating compared to other rookies," SCEA's Eric Levine told Kotaku, describing his fastball as a 105-mph blowtorch. "I don't know the exact number until the roster update is online, but he'll of course have an excellent fastball, a slider with tremendous break, and a high strikeout rating."
In MLB 2K10, which also won the race to be first with Stephen Strasburg back in June, Chapman "has the fastest fastball in the game," said 2K Sports' Chris Snyder. The team was still scouting his secondary pitches on Friday afternoon, to accurately rate them, but Snyder expected the roster to be ready to go in the evening, Pacific time.
Washington's Strasburg smoked 14 batters in his major league debut in June and became a league-wide sensation. But he suffered a torn elbow ligament on Aug. 21, an injury that will need 18 months to rehabilitate. The fascination with Chapman now steps into the hype vacuum left by Strasburg's injury. If he can keep from injuring himself playing Guitar Hero, Chapman could be one to watch as the Reds steam toward just their third playoff appearance since 1979.
Chapman, a 22-year-old Cuban defector, has been clocked at 105 mph in the minor leagues. On Tuesday he retired the first three batters he faced on nine pitches, ranging from 98 to 103 mph.
Video games with a group license from Major League Baseball's players' union must wait until rookies play their first major league game before adding them to the official roster. Some modders already had inserted Chapman into custom roster files as a minor leaguer. Operation Sports' latest roster for MLB 10 The Show, from early August (from which the picture above was taken), had Chapman's fastball with 99-rated speed and a slider with ratings of 70 in speed and 60 in break.