A fan’s guide to identifying pitches.
I‘m a baseball fan. I’ve watched my share of televised games and attended a few handful. After all this, I was still in the dark about the difference between pitches. I knew a curveball broke downwards, but what exactly was a circle changeup?
The diagrams below are the results of skimming through baseball books and doing online research. This is not a complete guide. I’ve picked twelve of the more common pitches:
- Fastballs: Four-seam, Two-seam, Cutter, Splitter, and Forkball
- Breaking Balls: Curveball, Slider, Slurve, and Screwball
- Changeups: Changeup, Palmball, Circle Changeup
Learning to Identify Pitches
The list of pitches might seem like a lot to keep track of, but remember that each pitcher utilizes only a selection of these pitches. For example, Pedro Martinez throws a curveball, circle-changeup, an occasional slider, and a fastball. Do a little research on the pitcher before the game.
Things to watch for that will help you identify a pitch:
- Speed
- Movement – the general direction the ball is moving
- Break – a sudden shift in direction
There are a few other things that can help you identify a pitch: ball rotation, point of release, and grip. For a casual fan though, it might be a bit much and I don’t illustrate or discuss any of the latter three items.
Reading the Diagrams
Take note of the speed, movement, and break of the ball. Don’t worry about where the baseball is shown in the the strike zone. You can throw a fastball in the middle of the strike-zone like the one illustrated, or you can throw one high and away from the batter. It’s still a fastball. Location doesn’t determine the pitch.
I’ve collected all twelve of the pitch diagrams below, minus the text notes, into a single PDF:
Four-seam Fastball
85-100 mph
- Fastest, straightest pitch. Little to no movement.
Two-seam Fastball
80-90 mph
- Also known as a Sinker.
- Moves downward, and depending on the release, will sometimes run in on a right handed hitter (RHH).
Cutter
85-95 mph
Splitter
80-90 mph
- Breaks down suddenly before reaching plate.
Curveball
70-80 mph
- Commonly called a 12-6 curveball. The 12-6 refers to the top to bottom movement (picture a clock with hands at 12 and 6).
Slurve
70-80 mph
- 11-5 movement. Similar to a curve but with more lateral movement.
Palmball
65-75 mph
- Ball is gripped tightly in palm.
- Just like a changeup, this pitch is slower than a fastball, but thrown with the same arm motion.
Sam Sep 21st, 2007
You’re an infographic machine!
this was not that good it needs pics of the grips Jul 25th, 2009
Yo
redcoyote Sep 23rd, 2007
Cool stuff… but where’s the knuckleball?
George Jun 7th, 2009
you cant draw a graphic for a knuckleball because its so unpredictable. it can break a million different ways depending on the wind.
Matty B. Sep 23rd, 2007
Very clean looking graphics. Informative too. I’m not the biggest baseball fan but you’ve listed some pitches I’ve never heard of.
mikef Sep 25th, 2007
excellent illustration!
Nathan Sep 25th, 2007
Where are the spitball and “gyroball”?
Anonymous Jun 7th, 2009
wtf
Anonymous Nov 10th, 2009
wtf is a fucking gyroball, are you a fucking homo or what?
Nox Sep 25th, 2007
Hey, supernice illustrations! I liked your coffee-appraoch aswell. Now it’s just drinks illustrated left ^_^
Godspeed
Sam Sep 25th, 2007
I expect a chart illustrating the objective ratings of all cheap beers by morning.
jeff Sep 27th, 2007
nice.
and you can’t diagram a knuckler. don’t you know, ese? a knuckle ball is loco.
seriously, though, a good knuckle has no spin at all, so the air catches the seams in weird ways and the ball pretty much bounces around at random. pretty hard to hit. also, tears up your arm pretty good (i was a knuckler for 1 1/2 years in high school, then my arm died…).
Anonymous Jun 7th, 2009
sucker
Anonymous Jul 8th, 2009
That’s not true. At all. Kunckleball puts less stress on the elbow and shoulder.
Anonymous Jul 31st, 2009
u are so stupid it puts alot of stress cuz ur arm is moving fast but the ball goes really slow it puts alot of stress most offspeed pitches do
Anonymous Aug 1st, 2009
you baseball fans are so fickle. i can throw a shitty little baseball far harder,faster more accuate than any so called pitcher. any obect i get il hit at more than your precious 100mph
TheDon Aug 6th, 2009
In your dreams, dork. I’m guessing you through like a girl – a little girl at that.
Dave Sep 29th, 2007
I was just wondering–is the position of the laces the same (as you show it) between a two-seam and four-seam fastball? I always thought that a two-seam was as you show it, but a four-seam was “across” the laces, i.e. the laces were horizontal. Or am I completely wrong here?
Sam Sep 30th, 2007
where does it show how 2 hold the ball when throwing these pitches
Onur Orhon Oct 2nd, 2007
I know nothing about baseball, but I love these illustrations, especially how you color-coded velocity. The site itself looks awesome by the way.
-onur
Johnny Donatello Oct 2nd, 2007
I would argue a “gyro” is actually a two seamer with a little pronation of the wrist. And yes, Dave, four seam is across the laces.
However, more importantly is the stadium in which you are watching the game (on TV). Each stadium has slightly different locations for the camera crews, each with a different angle between them and home plate and the pitcher’s mound and home plate. This distorts the direction and/or magnitude of the particular pitch. Teams scouting through a television have know these angles and can therefore better record pitches.
But great job with the illustrations.
Aysen Aycan Orhon Oct 3rd, 2007
I never thought someting beautiful could came out from baseball
-Aysen
http://studio208.a2o2.com/
Adam Oct 9th, 2007
Of course, these would be opposite coming from a left-handed pitcher.
RT Oct 12th, 2007
Awesome. Huge Baseball fan as well. Uh…can we see the illustrations that show how the ball is gripped for each pitch as well :)
Seriously though, Great Work!
ace83 Oct 13th, 2007
Thanks this is what I have been looking for
Lokesh Oct 15th, 2007
Sam and RT,
There are quite a few references for pitch grips online. I thought this trilogy of videos did a good job:
Baseball Pitches (1 of 3)
Diane Oct 29th, 2007
These are good, but I’m wondering if you forgot the knuckleball. Also, these would be different for left-handed pitchers, correct?
shrikant Oct 29th, 2007
hey great site man and nice illustrations ….
liked the coffee illustrations too …
whats next in store ???
Dean Oct 29th, 2007
Excellent job!
I have had the hardest time tryng to find illustrations like yours on the internet.
Thanks!
Anonymous Jun 11th, 2009
loser.
lalo Nov 6th, 2007
thanks for helping me with this gudie
Alejandro Nov 8th, 2007
Great diagrams, half of what I was looking for. Now I just need to see how the ball would be gripped in each one. Thanks for your diligent effort.
Eloy Nov 14th, 2007
Truly fantastic!
I would only add… that some fastballs — don’t know if there is a specific name — can break upwards.
George Jun 7th, 2009
rising fastballs, same grip but more whip action on the release
Than Nov 14th, 2007
A knuckleball would just be a big “?”
Than Nov 14th, 2007
and @Eloy, a “rising” fastball is a trick of perception. Usually a pitch that appears to rise is just a harder fastball that arrives quicker — less time to drop — and spins faster — futher cutting down the air drag that would cause the ball to drop.
Todd Nov 14th, 2007
What about the gyro-ball?
Fred Nov 14th, 2007
While a sinker and a two-seam fastball are thrown with the same grip, they are not the same pitch. Most sinkerball pitchers throw with slight pronation (or finger pressure or off-center grip) so there is some additional sideways spin. The break is slightly different, but probably not enough different to warrant its own chart.
Peter Nov 14th, 2007
Interesting. Especially to discover that a “curveball” doesn’t really curve at all.
Fred Nov 14th, 2007
Peter – curveballs really do curve; it’s just that the break of a 12-6 curve is essentially straight down. What Lokesh calls slurves and screwballs are also curveballs with more horizontal break. Mike Mussina’s knuckle curve is also a curveball (not a knuckleball).
jose Nov 14th, 2007
pretty basic stuff. good info for rookies.
LeftyPower Nov 14th, 2007
Eloy,
It is IMPOSSIBLE for a ball to break upwards. Anyone who tells you otherwise is falt out WRONG! Ask any physics professor worth his salt.
George Jun 7th, 2009
while a ball cant really break upwards, whipping your wrist alot on a fastball could have it sail more than a regular one, hence the rising fastball
Shaun Nov 14th, 2007
That fastball’s going to get crushed! It’s coming right down the middle!
These are fabulous. Thanks for sharing with the world.
Blake Nov 14th, 2007
You can actually make the 2 seamer run in or out for a RHH if the seams are vertical and you aplly more pressure to one side. For a 2 seamer to have a slight drop just have the seams horizontal and throw.
somesh Nov 14th, 2007
thanks man!! great job!!
Kim Nov 14th, 2007
the ball will break in the direction of rotation and a four seam fast ball thrown straight overhand can hop slightly upward if the rotation is back toward the pitcher on the top of the ball. The reason is the reduction of atmospheric air pressure on top and the constant atmospheric pressure (unchanged on bottom) lifts the ball. It’s the same principle that makes an airplane lift.
George Jun 7th, 2009
i like that explanation more than mine lol
Rob Nov 15th, 2007
Edward Tufte would be proud
Moon Nov 15th, 2007
Where is the Eephus pitch??
George Jun 7th, 2009
when was the last time you saw that thrown in real life??
Lokesh Nov 17th, 2007
The Knuckleball was in the running to be included in the diagrams but sadly it was dropped. Both the perspective I illustrated from and the large width of the ball trail made it difficult to come up with a rendering that captured the randomness and floaty-ness of the knuckleball’s movement.
@Moon
The Eephus pitch a.k.a. the Bloop Curve is there. You can see a small version of it right-aligned below the the title of this blog entry. Scroll up!
J.D. Bolick Nov 17th, 2007
Few curveballs are truly 12-6. Most of them are 1-7 or 11-5. Correspondingly, the slurve shouldn’t be described as having that kind of break. It’s relatively equal in terms of horizontal and vertical displacement rather than being primarily vertical.
John Nov 19th, 2007
Comment by Kim: “the ball will break in the direction of rotation and a four seam fast ball thrown straight overhand can hop slightly upward if the rotation is back toward the pitcher on the top of the ball. The reason is the reduction of atmospheric air pressure on top and the constant atmospheric pressure (unchanged on bottom) lifts the ball. It’s the same principle that makes an airplane lift.
First off, to be “clearer”, the ball (an official baseball) pitched by an average human being would break in the direction of rotation, that is, the direction of the rotation from the perspective of the batter; further more, a ball pitched is only capable of breaking in the downwards direction, horizontal directions, or in a downwards-horizontal combination direction.
Now it is not an error that I left out that a baseball thrown by a normal human being (whether professional MLB player or not or) is capable of breaking upwards. The reason being is because it simply is NOT possible, not with a baseball at least — perhaps a machine capable of producing extreme spin could cause a ball to break upwards, but not a person/ any person known with that capablility as known to date.
Yeah, you explain about the reduction of atmospheric air pressure and whatnot. That’s basic fluid dynamics. A lot of people ARE aware of this, as I am sure the commentor who previously explained that fastballs cannot rise (break upwards basically) knows that as well. So if he and I know about this physical property, then why would we state that a baseball cannot break upwards? The answer is, you have to take into account that gravity is a variable in the entire picture. With the mass of the ball, no person up to date is able to produce enough backspin/downwards spin in order to force a baseball to rise. You need to be able to generate tremendous backspin in order to overcome the gravity in order to create a true upwards break.
You must have fooled into the “typical” fallacy that wicked fastballs will rise as it approaches the plate. Well that fallacy has been proven to be wrong by sports scientists (google this subject, you WILL find many articles on it).
It’s still okay to describe a fastball as being a rising one (provided that one knows the truth that in reality it doesn’t actually break upwards). It would be ok to describe a fastball with more “hangtime” as being a riser-fastball.
The thing about the backspin imparted on the baseball is that it DOES cause the ball to resist dipping more, as the air pressure from above the ball is less than the bottom. …but it simply is not enough to break the ball upwards. The backspin keeps the ball path “straighter” or keeps the ball afloat longer than any other type of spin/no-spin pitches.
…My 2 cents to prevent others from being misinformed.
LeftyPower Nov 19th, 2007
Kim, I don’t want to sound like a jerk, but you are dead wrong. It doesn’t happen. What it is is actually an optical illusion. Of course, I don’t have the time to debate it, but it’s the truth, and whether or not you agree is irrelevant. (I sure like your moxie, though!)
Russ Nov 19th, 2007
Just read this post…Duh. I guess if you don’t pay attention to baseball or put on mute while you watch a game then you might get something out of that.
The best way to determine a pitch is yes by the speed and the way it breaks. How about the why the pitch does what it does? This is attributed to the spin. It all starts with the way the pitcher holds the ball and the way he breaks his wrist at the relase point. For example the curve you throw more or lease over the top and you pull the ball down creating a circular spin on the ball. The laces of the ball catch the air around it in such a matter that the ball dives. To the batter the ball apears to have a white spot in the middle due to this rotation. This is the best way to identify a pitch.
John Nov 20th, 2007
Posted by: LeftyPower
Kim, I don’t want to sound like a jerk, but you are dead wrong. It doesn’t happen. What it is is actually an optical illusion. Of course, I don’t have the time to debate it, but it’s the truth, and whether or not you agree is irrelevant. (I sure like your moxie, though!)
———————————————————————————
Yes, LeftyPower is correct in saying that it is an optical illusion. The reason why some players will say that a fastball seems to rise is that it stays more aloft than usual — that is, there reactive reflexes expected to see the ball drop down, but with a wicked fastball, the ball floats longer due to wicked fastball with tremendous backspin. Now the ball doesn’t actually rise/break upwards. It appeared or felt like it did to the batter, since the pitch caught their natural expectation off guard.
That is why some batters will say that the ball rises. It’s only an “illusion”.
Melo Nov 26th, 2007
Great graph~
L Nov 26th, 2007
clear explanation with illustrations!!
good job dude!!
John Nov 28th, 2007
Thanks, You helped me out alot w/ my baseball project!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sinceraly, Johnny
John Nov 29th, 2007
Hey, Its John again (the kid from yesterday). Thanks again Im about print out your page.I hope you read these messages. My AIM screen-name is Jlapacik043. If you 1, maybe we could massage. BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fred Nov 30th, 2007
Yea what red coyote said at the beginning, awesome illustrations, very helpful for explaining to my mother and girlfriend but where’s the wakefield knuckelball?!?
You live in our wonderful city and no knuckleball!?
Ginny Dec 8th, 2007
Wow! Thanks. I’ve tried for years to identify pitches, but am still frustrated by most of them. This helps a great deal.
User Game Reviews Dec 13th, 2007
First off I will start this by saying that I played 20 years, of baseball including 4 years at the college level. Also I for the most part was a starting pitcher all those years. I have played against plenty of pitchers who are now in the pro’s.
First off, the one guy who said that he threw knuckle balls in college and that knuckle balls hurt your arm. It wasn’t because you were throwing a knuckle ball. Of all the pitches knuckles do the least damage because the way you get the ball not to spin is by not snapping your wrist and elbow hard, which is what hurts your arm. You must have had another problem or you were throwing incorrectly.
Also you can’t chart a knuckleball, it moves different every time. Knuckleballs move so much that when a knuckleball pitcher comes in normally the catcher switches to a big mit and still has all kinds of problems catching the ball. If a catcher has a hard time catching it just imagine how hard it is to hit it. It is extremely hard to throw a knuckleball, that is why there is really only one knuckleballer in pro baseball today.
Second, everyone is right it is impossible for a fastball to rise. Trust me I have batted against a guy who throws 96 mph the ball doesn’t rise it just gets to your really fast. Also something else that no one else mentioned to make it even more impossible to make a ball rise is that you are throwing from a mound, downhill. If the ball wasn’t moving down the ball would be as high as the batters head every time.
Third, someone said something about a curveball having the “white dot”. If you see a white dot which is created by the spin of the ball you are actually seeing a slider, not a curveball. Any good curveball looks exactly like a 4 seam fast ball only it is spinning down instead of up. All you see is seams no white spot. This doesn’t change for someone who doesn’t throw a 12-6 curveball. If they are throwing a curveball the reason it isn’t 12-6 is because of their arm angle, they don’t throw straight over top, they are most like a 3/4 thrower, but still you would never see a white dot.
Also yes you can get a two seam fastball to move either direction depending on the way you put pressure on your fingers. There are two major factors in the movement of a baseball. First off is finger pressure. I actually threw a 4 finger change-up in college. With this pitch I could get the ball to basically move any direction I wanted (except up of course). So the first time a batter saw my change-up it moved one direction, then the next time it moved a different way. Kept them off balance which is the key to pitching. The second major factor is the angle of your wrist at release. For example when you throw a fastball, your fingers are straight over the top of the ball and your wrist is straight. When you throw a curve your hand is actually turned to the side and your hand is on the side of the ball.
Also for identifying pitches, speed is one the best ways. I can tell what a pitch is simply by the speed 90% of the time. If you know a guy throws a fastball, a curve, and a change-up (which are probably the 3 most common pitches), and lets say he throws is fastball 90mph. The fastball is easy to spot it is the 90mph one. Next comes the curve, a normal curve will be anywhere from 10-15mph slower than the fastball. Finally the change-up, the change-up is the slowest it should come in around 20mph slower if they have a good change-up. For other pitches, sliders are normally only about 5-10mph slower. Cutters and Splitters a lot of the time are only a speed decrease of a few mph, sometimes they are hard to spot unless you see the break.
Anyway if you have anymore questions for me let me know I would be happy to answer them.
balazs Dec 17th, 2007
knuckleball ???
balazs Dec 17th, 2007
good job! :)
Sina T Jan 1st, 2008
one problem
you have to realise that at the point where the ball is relased, the relase point is ABOVE the strike zone. you have drawn this in the catchers view
Someone Jan 16th, 2008
Balls !! ;)
bob Jan 30th, 2008
my girlfriend said weres the knukelbal
Linc4Sox Feb 10th, 2008
I like it.
I am doin a report for school and this is just what I needed.
12-6 CurveBall is a great pitch
Garrett Feb 12th, 2008
I have to disagree with the post in the fastball section. A forkball thrown the right way is actually more of a knuckleball. Jose Contreras has a “forkball”, but really it’s more of a nasty splitter. I’ve thrown the forkball a bit, and it is definitely one of the harder pitches to control. Look around on the internet about the forkball, you’ll find that most people agree with me. The thing with the forkball is that your fingers are on either side of the baseball, and when you release the ball, your fingers slide off the ball, leaving it with little to no spin. It moves very much like a knuckleball, which is how it is also called “the poor man’s knuckleball”. And Jeff, throwing a knuckler is probably the healthiest pitch for your arm. Look at Tim Wakefield, he’s getting up there in age, but he could pitch the entire game. Knuckleballs are thrown with almost no arm action, so it doesn’t hurt to throw it over and over.
George Jun 7th, 2009
not even close, a forkball is just a splitter with your fingers as wide apart as they can go
Anonymous Feb 12th, 2008
WHERE DOES IT SHOW WHAT TO DO WHEN THE BALL COMES BLASTING AT YOU ????
Linc4Sox Feb 18th, 2008
If some of you disagree on the looks of a Curveball look at one of the greats curveballs: Nolan Ryan or Barry Zito.
The Curveball is 12-6 or 1-7
gage Feb 20th, 2008
thank you for helping me with my projeck
Nate Barnett Feb 22nd, 2008
I love the visuals. Read quite of few pieces of pitch explanations without visuals. It’s kind of like having a blind seeing-eye dog… just doesn’t work. Nice job with this.
dchase Feb 22nd, 2008
best blog post ever
77dghdhbb Feb 22nd, 2008
awsome, but iwas wondering how do you grip a screwball
User Game Reviews Mar 25th, 2008
First grip a 2-seam fastball, with the seams, not across them. If you move both your index and middle finger to the right seam, that is how most people throw a slider. A lot of people who throw screwballs, which isn’t very many, do the opposite and move both fingers over to the left seam. But really the most important thing to any pitch is your wrist angle at release more than grip. Screwballs are hard to throw because it isn’t a very natural motion. On a slider you start with you two fingers on top and rotate them down to the right so your thumb is straight up and down. A screwball is the opposite, you are taking your two fingers that are on the top and rotating them down to the left so you palm is facing away from you body. However, I wouldn’t recommend throwing this pitch, it puts a lot of stress on your arm and not many people’s arms can handle this unnatural motion. I would recommend working on a two seam fastball and trying to get it to come in on the batter. Work with putting different amounts of pressure on your index finger and middle finger, you’ll be amazed by the different movements you can get just by doing that and not changing anything else. In college I actually used a four finger change up and could get it to move basically any direction I wanted by doing this.
Jamie Sheetz Mar 28th, 2008
Awesome illustrations and descriptions of different types of pitches!
Andrew Kilgour Mar 30th, 2008
This is great! I’m a Brit who has really got into watching baseball over the last year since going to an Angels game on holiday last August. For a beginner, the game happens so fast that it’s hard to work out the difference between different pitches so this is really helpful. I also bought the new MLB game for my PS3 and I’ve been gradually working out what the different pitches do, but I was unsure how fast I should be pitching them (except for the 4SFB of course!) so again this is awesome. Thanks so much!
Paul Apr 1st, 2008
I’m confused. I assume these are pitches coming from a right-handed pitcher. But every diagram shows the release point of a left-handed pitcher.
George Jun 7th, 2009
yeah that kinda annoyed me too
Sacco Apr 2nd, 2008
Hey,
Those were great illustrations, but if youshowed how to grip those pitches than this website would be alot better…. nice try though.
Anonymous Apr 9th, 2008
Thats alot of baseball tricks
Anonymous Apr 9th, 2008
Im cool
Jim Nasium Apr 16th, 2008
Rising fastball
Its an illusion. This illusion occurs because the brain is almost always seeing a baseball drastically affected by gravity. From the moment a ball thrown overhand is released gravity begins to pull it down towards earth
When the ball is thrown fast enough, with no movement, it is stopped by the catchers mit before gravity can pull it down too much. We expect the ball to drop further–and because what we expect doesnt happen, to our minds, it can appear to rise.
Also, some pitchers, like Roy Owswalt, drop down so far that they are almost throwing up–but that is trajectory–not upward curving
anonymous Apr 21st, 2008
show how to throw them and the effect and know wonder you can’t display the knuckle ball because it goes a different way every time i have a sweet knuckle ball and it goes a different way every time nice job otherwise though
Shane Apr 29th, 2008
the two-seamer is not also known as a sinker. the two-seamer breaks in on a right-handed hitter, when thrown from a right-handed pitcher. so it breaks like this:
O=>O
and a lefty:
O
Jack Sprat Apr 29th, 2008
You should show how to do the pitches
zach May 5th, 2008
i agree with ur gf bob. Wheres the knuckle ball?
bejazzy May 6th, 2008
wow~~~ great… impressive…
They might be better if with shape of grips.
I came here following coffee pictures~ from KOREA~~
good to see you…
joey May 20th, 2008
hey um i just wanted to tell u that it would be better if u showed how to throw them. i like what you’ve done so far though
michael May 24th, 2008
Nice website. Love the pics.
kyle Jun 1st, 2008
I just wanted to say describe the pitch not base it on the movements of a clock but other than that nice web site. :]
Newt Jun 1st, 2008
Thank you for helping me with my project on baseball movements. I seartched the web for a site like this so thank you again!
blank Jun 6th, 2008
i need to know how you did these diagrams, using what website, or application please!!!!!!
goo Jun 18th, 2008
get more pitches
cole Jul 3rd, 2008
u dont even have a sinker and no theres a huge difference between a sinker and a 2 seem fastball. and a curveball and 12-6 r 2 different things a 12-6 has more topple spin and drops down while a regular curve has alot more tight spin and moves diaginal
other than tht its all good
josh Jul 7th, 2008
SHOW ME HOW TO GRIP THEM!!!
jimmy Jul 9th, 2008
how do u throw them
johnny Jul 10th, 2008
what about the knuckle-curve
power curve
freeze ball
smoke ball
slo mo
and this website has weird graphics
George Jun 7th, 2009
not as wierd as those pitches
the guy Jul 11th, 2008
good but theres more than a 12-6 curve and u missed alot of pitches i like how the movement is shown
bababa Jul 11th, 2008
freeze ball smoke ball have u been playin backyard baseball
trevon Jul 27th, 2008
do another one with knuckle and ephus and the gyro but other than that excllent job man
Anonymous Jul 28th, 2008
you forgot the knuckle curve ball, knuckleball, ephus, and the gyro ball but other than that you are a baseball pitching machine
mtbaseball Aug 4th, 2008
nice but what about the grips…we cant pitch it if we dont know the grip!
mtbaseball Aug 4th, 2008
ALSO KNOWN AS: (General fastball terms)
heater, cheese, smoke, cheddar, big dog
AVERAGE SPEED: 89-91 mph
WHICH MARINERS THROW IT: All
BEST IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE* (ALL
FASTBALLS): Pedro Martinez, Boston; Troy
Percival, Anaheim; Bartolo Colon, Cleveland
Pitching 101
Four-seam
fastball
Changeup
Two-seam
fastball
Slider
Curveball
Split-finger
Forkball
ALSO KNOWN AS: Sinker
AVERAGE SPEED: 89-91 mph
WHICH MARINERS THROW IT: Garcia,
Halama, Moyer, Paniagua and Sele throw
mostly two-seamers. Everyone else except
Rhodes throws it with varying frequency.
ALSO KNOWN AS: Off-speed pitch,
dead fish, fosh, skirt, horseshoe
AVERAGE SPEED: 7-11 mph slower than
fastball
WHICH MARINERS THROW IT: Abbott,
Franklin, Garcia, Halama, Moyer, Pineiro,
Rhodes, Sele
BEST IN THE LEAGUE*: Pedro Martinez,
Boston; Brad Radke, Minnesota;
Jamie Moyer, Mariners
ALSO KNOWN AS: Hammer,
yellow hammer, whip, yakker
AVERAGE SPEED: 11-14 mph slower than
fastball
WHICH MARINERS THROW IT: Garcia,
Halama, Pineiro, Sasaki, Sele. Moyer and
Abbott have the pitch, but generally throw
fewer than five per game.
BEST IN THE LEAGUE*: Mike Mussina,
New York; Aaron Sele, Mariners;
Troy Percival, Anaheim
ALSO KNOWN AS: No common nickname
AVERAGE SPEED: 4-6 mph slower than
fastball
WHICH MARINERS THROW IT: Abbott,
Charlton, Franklin, Halama, Nelson,
Paniagua, Pineiro, Rhodes
BEST IN THE LEAGUE*: Jeff Nelson,
Mariners; Pedro Martinez, Boston;
Tim Hudson, Oakland
ALSO KNOWN AS: Splitter
AVERAGE SPEED: 4-6 mph slower than
fastball
WHICH MARINERS THROW IT: Franklin,
Paniagua
BEST IN THE LEAGUE: Tim Hudson,
Oakland
ALSO KNOWN AS: Fang
AVERAGE SPEED: Varies, as fast as
84-86 mph but usually slower
WHICH MARINERS THROW IT: Sasaki,
Charlton and, rarely, Nelson
BEST IN THE LEAGUE: Sasaki, Seattle;
Roger Clemens, New York
* 2001 survey of American League managers by Baseball America; otherwise determined through informal poll of players and coaches
Source: P-I research, Mariners pitching coach Bryan Price
“Every batter has
nightmares about
catching a fastball
between the eyes.
Stare at him and plant
that dream in his head.
Make him afraid, and
he’s half invisible
already.“
John Sayles,
”Pride of the Bimbos“
”The power pitcher —
the man who can rear
back and fog it by the
hitter — is the
brightest star in the
pitching firmament.“
John Thorn and John
Holway, “The Pitcher“
”In the confrontation
between batter and
pitcher, it is the
curveball that makes
the batter the
underdog.“
Martin Quigley,
”The Crooked Pitch“
”It is the pitch that has
changed the game of
baseball. … You can
see the spin, but unless
you anticipate it or the
pitcher hangs it, there
is not much chance of
your hitting it solidly.“
Lou Piniella,
Mariners manager
”The key to an
effective split-finger is
to think fastball.’’
Roger Craig,
former pitcher, coach
”Hitting is timing.
Pitching is upsetting
timing.“
Warren Spahn,
legendary left-hander
THE RELEASE: Tight spin,even
bottom-to-top rotation
THE RELEASE: Release mimics
fastball, but grip slows it
THE RELEASE: Same as fastball
THE RELEASE: Same as fastball
THE RELEASE: Ball tumbles over index
finger, opposite rotation from fastball
THE RELEASE: Tight spin, off-center
rotation
THE RELEASE: Leverage fingers pull down
on seam for tight, off-center rotation
ALSO KNOWN AS: Knuckler, dancer,
various expletives
AVERAGE SPEED: Anywhere from 50s
to 70s
WHICH MARINERS THROW IT: None
BEST IN THE LEAGUE: Boston’s
Tim Wakefield is the most effective
knuckleballer of his generation. Detroit’s
Steve Sparks is the only other AL
knuckleball starter.
Knuckleball ”Like some cult religion that
barely survives, there has
always been at least one but
rarely more than five or six
devotees throwing the
knuckleball in the big leagues
… Not only can’t pitchers
control it, hitters can’t hit it,
catchers can’t catch it, coaches
can’t coach it, and most
pitchers can’t learn it. The
perfect pitch.“
Ron Luciano,
former AL umpire
THE RELEASE: Straight forward, no spin
WHAT IT DOES: The knuckler is rare, difficult to learn, difficult to control and even
more difficult to hit. Gripped with the tips of the first two fingers on top and
anchored at the bottom by the thumb, the knuckleball is pushed straight out at
the release. There is ideally no spin at all, and the air moving against the
seams pushes the ball around at its will.
Knuckleball pitchers throw the pitch almost exclusively, but usually
mix in a fastball. Hitters hate the knuckler because it is so slow it’s
difficult to time, and even if you know when it’s going to get
there, there’s no way to predict where it’s going to be.
Dick Allen, a star first baseman in the ’60s and ’70s,
said the safest thing was to take your three swings
and sit down: “I’m afraid if I even think about
hitting it, I’ll mess up my swing for life.“
WHAT IT DOES: The most basic fundamental pitch, this is the only one thrown by
everyone. It is the easiest pitch to locate (put it where you want it). The fourseamer
is thrown at maximum velocity, with the ball coming off the first two
fingers and rotating bottom to top (6 to 12 on a clock) as viewed by the
batter. It gets its name from the way the four parallel seams spin
toward the batter, and that’s what the batter is looking for to
identify it.
WHAT IT DOES: For the two-seamer, the first and second fingers lay across the narrow
area between the two horseshoe-shaped seam outlines. It is released the same way
as the four-seamer, but the slight difference in the pronation of the hand causes it
to rotate off-center; where a four-seamer rotates 6-to-12 on a clock face in
the batter’s view, a two-seamer still rotates bottom to top, but might be
4-to-10. That causes the ball to sink to some degree, though this is
not considered a ”breaking pitch“ and is thrown at full velocity. It’s
called the two-seamer because, due to the grip, the batter sees
only one pair or horizontal seams spinning, instead of two.
This pitch is slightly more difficult to locate than the fourseamer,
but still is thrown with good control.
WHAT IT DOES: The changeup is the great impostor, meant to look like the fastball, but
coming in slower to throw off the batter’s timing. The arm motion and release point are
ideally the same as the fastball, but the difference is the grip. The most common grip is
some form of the “circle change,“ in which the thumb and forefinger touch to
create a circle on the side of the ball, which sits back close to the palm. The
remaining fingers are spread around the ball. Where the fastball uses
leverage to impart force and spin using the first two fingers, the
changeup spreads the force around the ball, concentrating it in the
middle of the ball and taking speed off. Variations on the grip
include the palm ball, where the ball is held all the way back
in the palm, and the horseshoe or pitchfork change, in
which fingers are spread evenly around the ball,
without the thumb-and-forefinger circle.
WHAT IT DOES: The curve is unusual in that it rotates from top to bottom, rather than from
bottom to top like the fastball. That’s because instead of being released forward, in the
direction of the fingers toward the batter, the curve is thrown with the wrist
cocked so that the thumb is on top. With the arm coming down, the ball
rolls over the outside of the index finger, causing a downward spin. The
curve sinks dramatically and can be thrown for a strike or as a ”miss“
pitch. Depending on the arm position of the individual pitcher —
straight over the top or more sidearm — the ball might also
break across the plate and wind up outside. On this pitch,
having the hand speed to transfer leverage to the front of
the ball is more important than arm strength.
WHAT IT DOES: The slider is the next-fastest pitch to the fastball, and it relies on a tight
spin that mimics the fastball, plus a pronounced late break down and away (in a rightyvs.-
righty matchup). The grip has the first two fingers close together and off-center,
positioned down the length of a seam. On release, the pitcher uses the contact
along the length of the seam and pulls downward to create spin. The slider
uses the leverage of the seam, rather than a wrist action, to impart
spin; try to do both at the same time and you’re headed for arm
problems. The spin is not straight through the ball, but offcenter,
due to the grip, and that spin pattern eventually causes
the ball to “snap off“ at a downward angle as it approaches
the plate. The speed is below that of the fastball, but the
closer a pitcher can get to throwing it at fastball speed,
the better.
WHAT IT DOES: The splitter comes in with tight rotation and good velocity and dives
straight down at the last second. The grip is similar to the two-seam fastball, but
with the fingers spread farther apart to change the rotation and add break. This
pitch is generally not thrown for strikes, but to coax a swing and miss.
WHAT IT DOES: For the fork, take the split-finger grip and spread the fingers out
as far as possible so that they are almost at the sides of the ball, and the ball
sits back more toward the palm. The pitch was allegedly invented by Dave
Keefe, a pitcher from 1917-22 who held the ball between his index and
fourth fingers because he had lost the middle finger in a childhood
accident. This grip takes a lot of velocity off the ball but causes
an extreme break. Like the splitter, the fork is not thrown for
strikes and usually winds up in the dirt. But if you can get
a batter to commit his swing when it looks like it’s
headed for the strike zone, by the time the bat gets
there, the ball’s underneath it. This one can make a
batter look very bad.
NOTE: Children should not throw the curveball, as serious arm problems can
result. Most coaches say the curve can be safely introduced at about age 15,
and it should be learned only under supervision.
There are many variations thrown in the major leagues, but these eight pitches form the foundation.
”If you throw a 97-mph
fastball, then come back
with a 87-mph forkball, the
hitter sees the same wrist
each time. Not only could he
end up out front of the ball
(swinging early), he could be
swinging at a ball that has
just plunged into the dirt.“
Roger Clemens,
Yankees pitcher
George Jun 7th, 2009
thats got to be the most useless comment ever
mtbaseball Aug 4th, 2008
this is the wibsite i found this
bil wexted Aug 9th, 2008
Informative website . . . could be improved . . . but the major change I would make involves a simple statement before your graphics as a few of your readers suggested:
1 . . A pitch that moves sideways for a RHP is opposite that thrown for a LHP.
2 . . Most of your diagrams, if viewed from the catcher, appear as those of a LHP but a cutter, slider, etc break away from a RHH if thrown by a RHP. I’d suggest clearing this point up.
3 . . Good Luck
Squirrelly Ball Oct 26th, 2008
Don’t be afraid to diagram a Squirrell Ball! It’s really squirrelly!
sfok09 Oct 27th, 2008
Awesome diagrams, makes a lot more sense now- would you mind adding a 3rd diagram denoting the trajectory when view from above the field with the RHH and LHH box , plate and mount.
LEE Nov 8th, 2008
Interviewer : You hit a Home Run in today’s game
What kind of pitch did you hit?
Baseball player: It was slider,,, a little bit Centered.
=> Right Expression? Any correction? I’m not a English speaking person. But I have an interwiew with a baseball player.. Especially I wonder if “pitch” is right or not. I ‘ll appreciate If you help me..
chance Dec 17th, 2008
the only thing you should include is how to hold and throw the ball for each pitch.
Kristen Jan 2nd, 2009
Nice graphics but u should have included a lot more pitches such as the gyroball, the knuckle curve ball, the knuckleball, and the ephus. But other then those few technacalities, great job. It helped me get an A+ on my project that was worth 30% of my grade.
Kristen Jan 2nd, 2009
Oops, I forgot 2 add 2 really cool pitches. The stopball and the frogball. Now, please don’t think im crazy ’cause im not. If u don’t believe those 2 r actual pitches, then u should read the book Maniac Magee. It’s awesome and talkes about the awesome pitches I just named.
allen Feb 4th, 2009
you forgot the mike marshall maxline fastball and the mike marshall sinker.
They are being used today…..And I see the maxline pronation curve being thrown by several major league pitchers, even though they wont admit it when asked….
There are sooooo many pitches…..the Tv commentators just generalize for the viewing public….or maybe they dont know….
PJ Feb 4th, 2009
Strong work! Thanks for making this. I have friends who don’t appreciate pitching (and therefore baseball) to whom I’m always trying to explain the subtleties. Great graphics. Thanks especially for the PDF.
serega Feb 4th, 2009
the only thing you should include is how to hold and throw the ball for each pitch…
Will Feb 4th, 2009
Great production on the article and something that can definitely be a great reference… except I’m afraid some of your information is fairly wrong. The main thing is that there is no such thing as a sudden or late movement on the ball. In fact, any breaking force caused by the spin of the ball is going to be relatively constant (if anything, it decreases as the pitch travels because the angular velocity of the spin declines due to air resistance — friction — as the ball travels). This can be seen pretty clearly now since they have started to make available trajectory information from games since they have pitch tracking equipment running on most games.
What is most important is not the actual motion of the ball so much as the motion of the ball relative to the expectations of the batter. The 2-seam fastball feels like it’s sinking only in comparison to the 4-seam fastball which actually has some lift-force causing it to not fall as far as a neutral-lift ball of the same speed and starting angle would fall. Splitters and other curving pitches that don’t start high like the 12-6 curveball seem to have a lot of “late” or “sudden” break on them because the constant curve can still result in a greater-than-linear increase in the vertical displacement depending on the starting angle. (Wish I had your graphics skills to present this clearly…)
Anyway, there’s a lot of good data now for actual trajectories, and if you compare a bunch of pitches from the same pitcher on the same day, you can really get a feel for how these pitches really travel. And you start to see why some guys have particularly nasty extra cuts on their 2-seam fastballs or sliders, that for instance, may give them opposite-movement (pitch movement is usually in the direction from the pitchers throwing arm to their glove arm; that is, balls from a RHP naturally come in on a left-handed batter; this is considered easier to hit than the other way around so that managers try to stack left-handed batters against RHP’s and vice-versa; therefore, a RHP who has pitches that drift away from a left-handed batter can take back the advantage).
It’s definitely interesting stuff. Keep up the good work, avoid getting worked up about the mythical “gyroball”, and add a section for the knuckle-ball, which is a ball that has little-to-no spin, and therefore does not fly on a stable trajectory, and can randomly drift and dart in ways the pitcher can’t even predict.
Kevin Feb 4th, 2009
This guide is worthless. First, it doesn’t distinguish a left handed pitcher from a right handed pitcher. Their pitches GO THE OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS from each other. Second, from the perspective of physics, there are only about four types of pitches. First, a fastball has no extra spin (but not no spin) so that it doesn’t appear to move. Second, a curveball/slider has spin that moves it left or right (depending on the arm throwing it). A screwball is simply a curveball with spin in the opposite direction, so its movement is also opposite that of a curveball. Third, a sinker, because of its top spin, moves downward. It is simply a curveball pointed downward. Fourth, a knuckleball moves irregularly because it doesn’t spin – the movement of air over the seams provides the force that gives the ball motions. Since the seam are slightly different in orientation in each pitch, the motion appears almost random..
All other “types” of pitches are simply slight variations in the angle of the spins with respect to the movement of the ball through the air or variations in the speed of the ball as it moves through the air (a change up, for example). The way one “grips” the ball has little to do with the motion of the ball, with the possible exception of a knuckleball, where the grip ensures that the ball does minimal spinning in transit.
If you want to understand baseball motion, you have to understand physics. This will demonstrate to you quite clearly the limited number of possible motions of a ball through the air. This guide ignores the physics and is thus worthless.
jeremy Feb 5th, 2009
nice colection but missing a few
kakakasy Feb 5th, 2009
cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
ffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
hbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
77
Glenn Schultz Feb 6th, 2009
On your four seem fastball diagram you need to rotate the ball 90 degrees so you see four seems as the ball is spinning not two
AL Mar 1st, 2009
Thank you, Lokesh. The graphs of the different types of pitches makes it a lot easier to grasp- ‘pictures worth more than a thousand words’.
John Doe Mar 12th, 2009
It would be nice to see the arm movements to execute for each pitch.
Any way nice blog!
Ty Cobb Mar 18th, 2009
Where is the Gyro? And the Efis?
zab190 Mar 29th, 2009
does Gyroball exsist?
Anonymous Apr 14th, 2009
i dont get it
Fuck Tard 101 Apr 19th, 2009
i really hate the people wno take it seriously their like man u have a great site, or gret collection
Fuck Tard 101 Apr 19th, 2009
whoever mtbaseball better not get in my face or i wil ROUND HOUSE their ass
Fuck Tard 101 Apr 19th, 2009
Mt baseball ur a LOSER who has NO LIFE AT ALL
Fuck Tard 101 Apr 19th, 2009
i mean really how much time did u spend on that, i mean do u have any friends or do u just sit on ur computer typing three pages of SHIT that no one in this fucking world gives a shit about, either go to therapy or head to ebay and there are thousands of people who would sell u their live there
Shaq (aka galactus, fat slab) Apr 19th, 2009
i want to eat yao ming for breakfeast
George Jun 7th, 2009
now seriously, how useless is that?
Derrick Rose Apr 19th, 2009
SWEET HOME CHICAGO
THE KING Apr 19th, 2009
LE2BR3ON OW23NS
TERENCE JOHN PATRICK FOGARTY Apr 19th, 2009
YA
Kaela Apr 29th, 2009
this wuz so helpfull!!!
coooooolio brady May 19th, 2009
i never new that a 2 seam sunk. I thought the sinker and the 2 seam were different! Thats SO cool
Craig Duncan Jun 1st, 2009
Here’s a good video on the subject:
http://postscripts.typepad.com/friday_5/2008/07/baseball-name-t.html#more
By the way, is the slider illustrated correctly here? The diagrams are from a left handed pitcher, correct? This shows the pitch breaking back on itself, i.e. back to the left (from the pitcher’s point of view). I thought a slider from a left-handed pitch would break left to right (from the pitcher’s point of view).
Stan Jun 16th, 2009
I agree to you
anonymous Jun 13th, 2009
Interesting & informative. I learned a lot!
I had some other questions, but many were answered by plenty of replies, AND your link to: “Baseball Pitches (1 of 3)”. Actual photos of intitial grips might be helpful, too. Ony one question for me remains:
How was the changeup named? I’m not certain what changes, and what’s “up”. My best educated guess is that the slower speed (from a fastball) is the “change”.
And mtbaseball: BREVITY is the soul of wit. TL;DR. I Suggest you get your OWN website.
Thanks!
Anonymous Jun 19th, 2009
wheres the knuckle curve
Anonymous Jun 29th, 2009
you need to add more complicated pitchs so more people could learn them life the fosh or eephus.Only 1-2 people are good at those pitches(Scott Kazmir=eephus and Al Nipper=Fosh
Anonymous Jul 2nd, 2009
Ca c vraiment cool de voir tous les effets que les balles peuvent faire et surtout le montrer en images.
beast Jul 28th, 2009
were is the knuckle curve?
Anonymous Jul 31st, 2009
Great article….Can you recmmend a book that illustrates and shows the types of pitches (as seen by the batter) in MLB???? tHANK YOU…
Anonymous Aug 13th, 2009
hey could you do like a diagram of eephus picth?
Anonymous Sep 17th, 2009
i have a pitch that moves from way behind the hiters head and moves to the othere side of the plate and droops about 2.5 feet,. I dont think its a curve or a sluve but i throw it with a curve ball grip what pitch is it? i need hilp
Mark McCubbin Jan 3rd, 2010
I appreciate how you mapped the speed of the ball to color (red=fast, orange=medium, orange/yellow=slower speed), and how you increased motion-line thickness to indicate it’s proximity to the batter. I also like the small “spark line” images you drew to show each pitch from a second side-view perspective. The dark shade of the ball and motion-line layer nicely over the quiet gray of the pitcher’s mound and home plate to further illustrate and differentiate one pitch style from another. Very good information design, Lokesh!
Dude-o Jan 12th, 2010
What about knuckleballs?
sherlizz Jan 16th, 2010
this is truly scientific. Who would’ve guessed.