No pitcher can be successful throwing the same pitch in the same place over and over.  Pitchers need to attack different parts of the strike zone, change speeds and change location to keep hitter’s guessing about where the next pitch will be.

Fastballs

A fastball down the middle is usually not a good pitch.  Pitchers like to throw fastballs up, where a hitter is more likely to swing and miss or pop them up.  Fastballs away are another favorite, where the hitter has to reach out to try to make contact with the ball and will likely miss the pitch or foul it off.

 

 

 

 

A “bread and butter” pitch that every pitcher throws.  It is the fastest pitch in the game but also has limited movement.

 

A good 4-seamer will be thrown at better than 92 mph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue Reading to see the rest of the pitches....

 

 

 

 

A fastball thrown a little less hard (88-92 mph) but with more movement.  A pitch with less of a drop than a splitter.

 

This makes it a little easier to hit but also easier for the pitcher to control.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A pitch that breaks in on lefthanded hitters (when thrown by a right handed pitcher) or breaks in on righthanded hitters (when thrown by a left handed pitcher).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A pitch that finishes with a sharp drop (also known as the “bottom falling out of it”).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breaking Pitches:

Breaking balls can be thrown either hoping to get the hitter to chase a pitch that breaks out of the strike zone, or to “freeze” the hitter who will see a pitch that starts out of the strike zone but breaks into it at the last minute.

 

 

 

 

 

A slow breaking pitch with a “looping action”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A sharper breaking pitch that is thrown harder than the curveball and features a more sudden drop off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very similar to the Split Finger Fastball, but with less velocity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Off Speed Pitches

Offspeed pitches aim to attack the hitter’s timing, getting them to swing early and miss or to overswing and make poor contact.  A change up that breaks down can also fool a hitter into chasing it when it is out of the strike zone.

 

 

A pitch where the pitcher’s arm action looks like he is throwing a fastball but the pitch itself is thrown much slower.

 

Some change ups also feature a downward break at the end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knuckleball:

A pitch thrown off the fingertips of the pitcher’s hand.  It is the slowest pitch in baseball but the one with the most movement and the most erratic action.  It is nearly impossible to control.  Also known as the “flutter ball" and is almost impossible to diagram without a little help from the AP.