Baseball’s popularity is growing
Today baseball is a sport, which is on the list of top sports. People adore watching it, playing it, and placing bets on baseball events. Most of them are amateurs, who just want to watch its interesting events to relax, however, some people want to be full of the knowledge of this sport for different purposes: to become a professional analyst, to bet successfully, to become a cool player, and whatnot. Of course, for all these points, a person should understand baseball peculiarities such as its types of pitches, the essence of the game, etc.
In this article, we will introduce all baseball pitches to you. Understanding these types of pitches will help you become a professional in this sport.
Types of pitches in baseball
Let’s start getting familiar with baseball pitch grips and their peculiarities. First, we must admit that there are 10 of them. We have included a description of each of them below.
4-seam fastball
To start describing different baseball pitches, you should know that there are three similar ones. They are 4-seam fastball and two 2-seam fastball pitches. Here you may see the characteristics of the 4-seam fastball baseball pitch:
- This is one of the most complicated baseball pitches grips;
- Put your index and middle fingers exactly on the ball’s seams for a four-seam hold. The thumb and ring fingers are then used to keep the ball in place. The ball must be grasped by the fingers rather than lying back in the palm. A fastball should be hit with reverse spin when it is thrown.
2-seam fastball or sinker
This baseball pitch has the next peculiarities:
- This fast pitch baseball received the name sinker. It is held together by the seams rather than by the edges;
- Its main peculiarity is that this pitch pushes the pitcher’s arm side and down.
2-seam fastball or runs
It stands out among other types of baseball pitches due to these characteristics:
- It is similar to the previous type of pitches;
- If the ball advances to the pitcher’s arm side, the ball runs.
Cut fastball
This is another fast pitch baseball that also should be mentioned as a well-known one. Here are its features:
- It is similar to the slider pitch in baseball. However, in this case, you will not need to do as much movement. It also has a higher velocity than the slider baseball pitch.
- This pitch simply goes a few inches to the pitcher’s glove side and has little depth.
Slider baseball pitch
What is a slider pitch in baseball? We have already compared the cut fastball with it but what about the peculiarities of the baseball slider pitch itself? Check them here:
- So, what is a slider pitch in baseball? What is its main peculiarity? The answer is that this pitch slides at an angle towards the pitcher’s glove side as it gains depth;
- It is something between curveball and fastball;
- It has a high speed but not much movement;
- To define the baseball slider pitch, look for a compact spin with a red dot (seams crossing and spinning).
Curveball
Curveball is also one of the famous baseball pitch grips. The reason for it is its features:
- This is a topspin serve;
- When throwing a spin ball, the middle finger is the very finger you need. It goes on the bottom seam, while your thumb goes on the rear seam. The index finger keeps the ball, which rests on the ring finger;
- Its depth is larger than that of the slider pitch in baseball;
Slurve
This one is among those types of baseball pitches that remind everyone of several other types mixed.
- Its speed is similar to the slider’s one;
- Its break angle is greater when pitched by a right-hander.
Change-up
These types are also known as Vulcan pitches in baseball. They stand out by the next traits:
- Its spin is similar to the fastball one but the speed of change-up is slower;
- Its depth isn’t large.
Split-finger
Different pitches in baseball mean various characteristics. That’s why for the split-finger they are as follows:
- The action will remain the same regardless of the velocity at which it is thrown;
- The baseball starts in the strike zone and descends to the ground. As a result, baseball has a downward movement.
Knuckleball
The last but not the least type is knuckleball and here are its features:
- This pitch requires slow movements;
- When thrown, the articulated ball makes contact with the baseball using its knuckles rather than its fingers. As a result, the ball may be hurled without much spin.
Conclusion
We do believe that this article dedicated to different pitches in baseball was useful for you. We hope that now you know the peculiarities of all types of pitches like Vulcan pitches in baseball, sliders, and so on. Thus, if you have enough knowledge about baseball pitches grips, you will likely become a professional in this sport. Remember that different baseball pitches can predict the game’s outcome. Good luck!