How to Pitch in Baseball: Fastball Grips and Descriptions

Every kid dreams of being a pitcher. Everybody dreams of becoming a pro. But before you blow kids away and become a pro, you must learn the grips in baseball to get the desired effect on the baseball. Every pitcher has an arsenal of weapons at his disposal to either confuse, bewilder, or just blow their opponent away. Pitches can be classified into 4 different categories. Fastballs, Breaking Balls, Change-ups and Specialty pitches. Today I will be focusing in on the Fastball.

Fastballs:

These pitches are the most commonly known pitches in baseball. Their speeds, thrown by pros, can range anywhere from 80 mph – 100+ mph. There are many different kinds of fastballs. As with most pitches, it is essential to flick your wrist down upon release to get that extra velocity and accuracy. When to flick your wrist is dependent on your pitching arm motion so its up to the individual. Fastballs are usually the first pitch learned as a little leaguer. This is because the pitch is easy to control the grip which means more control on the pitch. There are 5 main fastballs. These are the 4-seam, 2-seam, Cutter, Splitter, and Sinker.

4 – Seam Fastball:

This pitch is named the 4-seam because in each revolution, you can see 4 seams. Because there are more seams per revolution this is used to throw the fastest pitch in baseball. This pitch has little to no movement at all. Sometimes this pitch can be described as a “riser”. This is one effect of the pitch. This is because most pitches drop down towards the ground due to gravity, but the 4-seam stays relatively straight. This gives the “rising” effect. This pitch is usually used for a “strike-out” pitch and a go-to pitch for many. Some great 4-seam pitchers are Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, and Justin Verlander. The grip for this pitch is:

Notes:

 - As you can see, the pitch is held fairly away from the palm of the hand. This is to reduce friction, which increases velocity greatly. Just by adding this little adjustment can add up to 10 mph on your pitch

- Do NOT grip this ball too tightly, most people make the mistake of gripping the ball as hard as they can. This is a mistake and will result is wilder pitches, with less velocity. Try to hold it like an egg

- your index and middle finger should not be too far apart, the distance in the pictures above illustrate a good distance.

2-Seam Fastball:

This pitch is named the 2-seam because in each revolution, you can see only 2 seams. This means that this pitch is going to be slower than the 4-seam but sometimes not by much. Although they are slower than the 4-seam, it is their movement that is what makes them so effective. The 2 seam fastball moves in the direction of the pitchers dominant side. For example a right-handed pitcher throwing the 2 seam with movement towards a right-handed batter. This is used to either back-up a batter, or run in on a batter. This pitch can be a great strike-out pitch when used effectively. Tim-Lincecum has a great 2-seam fastball. The grip for this pitch looks like:

Notes:

- There are 2 ways to throw this pitch the first picture and the third picture. Both are effective but i prefer the third.

- When throwing this pitch to add movement you grip the ball closer to the palm. This is what causes the lack in speed but increases movement.

- Unlike the 4-seam fastball, you must grip this pitch tighter but try to still stay “loose”

- When releasing either put pressure on your index or middle finger to create movement.

Cut Fastball or “Cutter”:

The Cut Fastball is a fastball with slider movement. (you don’t know what a slider is! Don’t worry we’ll cover that later.) It is similar to the 4-seam grip. There is a shift in the grip of the 4-seam that creates the cutter. This shift creates more spin but with any pitch with spin, the speed is reduced. The cutter will break away from the pitcher’s dominant side. For example a Right-Handed Pitcher will throw a cutter away from Right-handed batters. This pitch is most commonly used to get easy ground-outs. Most hitters will be able hit this pitch, but it will stay in the infield. Mariano Rivera has the best cutter in baseball today.  The cutter grip looks like this:

Notes:

- Like with the two seam, the Cutter needs to be gripped closer to the palm. 

- When releasing apply pressure with your middle finger. 

Split-Finger Fastball or “Splitter”:

The splitter is pretty much what it sounds like. You split your fingers wide apart to add more break. The Splitter is very effective as it looks like a fastball, coming at you with fastball velocity, but then sharply breaks towards the batters knees. A great strikeout pitch that will get batters swinging wildly. This pitch is popular amongst the “power” pitchers with heavy fastballs. They can use this pitch as a “change” up. Bruce Sutter was the best Split-Baller. The splitter looks like this:

Sinker:

The sinker is similar to the Splitter as it first looks like a fastball, and then drops towards the ground. But the drop of the sinker is a lot more gradual. In any event, this is still an effective pitch. This is almost exclusively a groundout pitch. Pitchers that use the sinkers can get quick easy groundouts. Roy Halladay has an amazing sinker. The sinker looks like this:

Image via Wikipedia