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          Keith Law Blog

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          Best pitching tools in MLB

          Clayton Kershaw, Aroldis Chapman and Felix Hernandez are prominent in the pitching tools ranks. Getty Images
          • Keith Law, ESPN Senior WriterAug 15, 2014, 08:47 AM ET
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            • Senior baseball analyst for Insider
            • Was special asst. to Blue Jays GM
            • Wrote for Baseball Prospectus
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          Our evaluation of the best tools in the game concludes with the pitching tools. On Wednesday, we at ESPN Insider laid out the best defensive tools, and on Thursday, we had the best hitting and baserunning tools. Keith Law looks at nine different pitching categories today.

          Best fastball

          lastname1. Aroldis Chapman, Cincinnati Reds
          It's certainly the hardest fastball I've ever seen -- I got him at 104 mph on my gun at Petco Park in September 2010 -- and it comes out of his hand shockingly easily given its superhuman velocity.