Fastball

For the American band, see Fastball (band). For the version of softball, see Fastpitch softball.

Not to be confused with speedball (disambiguation).

During pregame bullpen warmup Chris Young warms up with a four-seam fastball.

The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the speed, often exceeding 100mph, and movement of their fastballs to prevent the ball from being hit. As an alternative to the fastball, pitchers can put more movement on slower thrown balls, or throw them towards the inside or outside of home plate where batters cannot easily reach it.

Fastballs are usually thrown with a backspin so that the Magnus effect creates an upward force on the ball. This causes it to fall less rapidly than expected, and sometimes causes an optical illusion often called a rising fastball. Although it is impossible for a human to throw a baseball fast enough and with enough backspin for the ball to actually rise, to the batter the pitch seems to rise due to the unexpected lack of natural drop on the pitch.

Colloquially, a fastball pitcher is said to "throw heat" or "put cream on it", among many other variants.

Types of Fastballs

Types of Fastballs: Four-Seam, Sinker, and Cutter as Viewed from the Catcher's Perspective.

While many varieties or 'shapes' of fastballs have been described throughout baseball history, including four-seam fastballs, rising fastballs, two-seam fastballs, sinkers, running fastballs, cut fastballs, and split finger fastballs, today, MLB recognizes 3 distinct varieties of fastballs, grouping the many names and descriptors into three groups: four-seam fastballs, sinkers (two-seam fastballs), and cutters (cut fastballs). Despite its name, the split-finger fastball or 'splitter' is not considered to be a type of fastball and is considered an off-speed pitch.

Four-seam fastball

Main article: Four-seam fastball

An animated diagram of a four-seam fastball

The four-seam fastball is the most common variant of the fastball. The pitch is used often by the pitcher to get ahead in the count or when he needs to throw a strike. This type of fastball is intended to have minimal lateral movement, relying more on its velocity and vertical 'rising' movement. It is typically the fastest pitch a pitcher throws, with recorded top speeds above 100 mph. The fastest pitch recognized by Major League Baseball (MLB) was on September 25, 2010, at Petco Park in San Diego by then-Cincinnati Reds left-handed relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman. Its recorded speed was 105.1 miles per hour. On April 19, 2011 Chapman caused the stadium radar gun to register 106 mph (the TV-reading had his pitch at 105 mph, and the pitchF/X reading was actually 102.4 MPH). Two general methods are used to throw a four-seam fastball. The first and most traditional way is to find the horseshoe seam area, or the area where the seams are the farthest apart. Keeping those seams parallel to the body, the pitcher places his index and middle fingers perpendicular to them with the pads on the farthest seam from him. The thumb then rests underneath the ball about in the middle of the two fingers. With this grip, the thumb will generally have no seam on which to rest.

The four-seam fastball is widely regarded as the main key to advancing to the next level of play. One of a baseball scout's main criteria when scouting a prospect is how fast he throws a four-seam fastball. The game of baseball keeps on progressing, and as research on the physics of throwing is published and recognized, fastball velocity training has become more effective. This can be shown by looking at the average fastball velocity in the major leagues as time progresses. In 2008 the average fastball thrown in the MLB was 90.9 mph. Five years later it had risen to 92.0.

Pitch velocity has gone up by the development of better training and clearer communication. People like Tom House, Eric Cressey, Kyle Boddy, and Ron Wolforth have all pushed the edge and dedicated careers to research on what makes the ultimate pitcher. Pitchers are getting bigger, faster and stronger, and pushing their bodies in the weight room as well as with weighted ball throwing. All of this has created a faster, more powerful game for pitchers on the mound today.

Higher pitch velocities have resulted in fewer hits and other imbalances. A more distant pitcher's mound and other changes have been proposed to restore balance.

Sinker (Two-Seam Fastball)

Main articles: Two-seam fastball and Sinker (baseball)

The sinker, synonymous with the two-seam fastball, two-seamer, tailing fastball, or running fastball is a type of fastball thrown with a seam orientation that induces more downward or arm-side horizontal movement compared to four-seam fastballs or cutters. Historically, distinctions have been made between these terms, but today, they are all recognized by MLB as variations of the same pitch. Differences in arm slot, spin, and velocity cause some sinkers to exhibit more vertical 'drop' or 'sink', while others 'run' or move more horizontally toward the pitcher's arm side.The unique running and sinking movement profile of the sinker makes it more likely to induce ground balls than other pitches as it dives under the plane of the batter's swing. It should be noted that not all sinking or running fastballs are necessarily sinkers; four-seam fastballs thrown from a low arm slot can also exhibit sinking and running movement due to the horizontal spin axis imparted by a low or sidearm release point.

Spin of a seam-shifted wake sinker from the catcher's perspective.

To throw a sinker, the pitcher typically grips the ball as they would a four-seam but with their index and middle finger parallel to the seams instead of perpendicular to them. This causes the ball to spin with two seams visible instead of four.

Throughout much of baseball history, the reasons why a two-seam grip resulted in different ball movement compared to a four-seam fastball were not fully understood. While it was recognized that a reduced spin rate or altered spin axis could create the distinct movement profile of the sinker, it is now understood that the distinctive movement profile of sinkers is primarily due to the seam-shifted wake (SSW) phenomenon.

When a sinker is thrown with a moderate degree of gyro spin and properly oriented seams, the rotating seams around one pole of the baseball create a greater disturbance in the air compared to the seamless area around the other pole. This uneven drag force induces a force perpendicular to the spin direction, generally resulting in more horizontal run, vertical drop, and generally more unpredictable movement than sinkers with less substantial SSW effects. While all pitches experience SSW effects to some degree, sinkers with pronounced seam-shifted movement are understood to be particularly effective pitches, resulting in better outcomes like increased ground ball rates.

The sinker has been a staple for many notable pitchers, often referred to as 'sinkerballers', such as:

• Greg Maddux, widely regarded as among the finest starting pitchers or all time, pitched heavily off his sinker. He relied on its substantial movement, his precise control, and its above average low 90s velocity to generate ground balls as a young pitcher. Towards the end of his career, his velocity declined into the mid 80s but his excellent sinker helped him remain effective.
• Brandon Webb, one of the most highly regarded pitchers of the 2000s before injuries forced his early retirement, was known for having one of the best sinkers in the league. He relied on this pitch to earn a Cy Young Award and two runner-up finishes from 2006 to 2008.
• Zack Britton, one of the most successful relievers of the 2010s, threw a mid to high 90s sinker more than 90% of the time at his peak. His sinker, now known to have benefitted from substantial seam-shifted wake (SSW) effects, consistently helped him lead the league in ground ball rates.

Spin visualization of 4 cutters from the catcher's perspective demonstrating the variable shape and degree of wrist supination. From the top left: Camilo Doval, Kenley Jansen, Corbin Burnes, and Sonny Gray.

An animated diagram of a cutter

Cutter (Cut Fastball)

Main article: Cutter (baseball)

The cutter or cut fastball, is a pitch that blurs the lines between a four-seam fastball and a slider. The pitcher typically shifts their grip on a four-seam fastball to the side of the ball, and slightly supinates their wrist to convert some backspin into gyro spin. This alters the shape or movement of the fastball in several ways.

• Reduces the velocity of the pitch, typically by 2-8 mph compared to the pitchers four-seam velocity, depending on the degree of wrist supination and the pitcher's biomechanics.
• Shifts the spin axis of the ball either reducing arm side movement or adding glove side movement. This typically leads to less induced vertical movement and causes the pitch to drop more rapidly than a four-seam fastball.
• Increased gyro spin and altered seam orientation induces seam-shifted wake effects inducing seam-shifted cut to the balls movement.
• Though not universal, many pitchers are able to spin cutters at a higher rate than their four-seam fastball. In 2024, the average cutter averaged around 2400 RPM compared to around 2300 RPM for the average four-seam fastball.

Combined, these effects typically create a pitch slower than a pitcher's four-seam, that drops faster with either sharp glove-side 'cutting' movement or at least minimal arm-side movement.

Though the cutter is less common in MLB than the four-seam and the sinker, there have been many notable practitioners such as:

• Mariano Rivera, widely regarded as the greatest relief pitcher in baseball history, relied heavily on a low to mid-90s cutter, at times throwing it almost exclusively. This pitch became notorious for inducing soft contact by cutting in on the hands of left-handed hitters.
• Kenley Jansen, one of the most consistent and decorated relievers of the 2010s, has consistently thrown a low to mid-90s cutter throughout his career. The pitch's heavy seam-shifted wake induced cut have led to elite whiff rates, consistently in excess of 30%, against right-handed hitters.
• Emmanuel Clase relies heavily on his unique hard cutter. Consistently averaging around 99 mph and reaching as high as 102.8 mph, the pitch has produced extremely high ground ball rates throughout his career.