I find different pitches in baseball interesting. I play in the Minor League of the HKLL and in this league, we are only aloud to throw fastballs. 2 weeks ago, I played in a Major League tournament, the To Shek Cup. In the Major League, you are aloud to throw off speed pitches such as curveballs and sliders. It was a great opportunity for me because I got to experience other pitchers throwing off speed pitches at me, thats why I am interested in different kinds of pitches.
First I am going to explain the movement of a curveball. As the ball is slow, it is easy for the batters to hit it if it is high, so you need to keep the ball low. The curveball drops while going out for the right batters and going in for the left batters. Some pitchers that throw great curveballs are Chris Carpenter, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay.
Next, the strikeout pitch of many pitchers, the slider. A slider is faster than a curve but drops less. A slider also goes out for a right batter and goes in for a left batter. Some pitchers that often throw sliders are Colby Lewis and Clayton Kershaw.
My most favourite pitch is a sinker. Some MLB pitchers throw sinkers instead of four seam or two seam fastballs are called sinkerballers. A sinker drops while going in on a right batter and going out on a left batter. A fast sinker can be faster than a fastball, and some slow sinkers are about the same speed as sliders. Some pitchers who throw sinkers are Roy Halladay, Charlie Morton, Tim Hudson, Justin Masterson and Brandon League.
A cutter is also an interesting pitch for me. A cutter is about 5-6 miles slower than a fastball and moves slightly to the right batters’ outside and to the left batters’ inside. Some pitchers with great cutters are C.J. Wilson, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee.
A changeup is often used for relief pitchers’ strikeout pitch. It is also a starters’ count pitch. It moves straight and then slightly drops at the end. Some starters who use changeups are Felix Hernandez, Jason Vargas, Cole Hamels and Jair Jurrjens. Some relievers who use changeups are Jim Johnson,Carlos Villanueva, Joaquin Benoit, David Pauley, Tim Collins, Hisanori Takahashi, Christhian Martinez, Ryan Madson, Tyler Clippard, Francisco Rodriguez and Fernando Salas.
I hope to throw different types of pitches over time.
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