Pitching break

[Guest icoff]

Which baseball pitch breaks the most? Not asking about 12-6 movement, but 9-3 or vice-versa in best case scenario.

[Gfoley4]

Here you go http://imgur.com/gallery/UiU59iL

[Umpire in Chief]

I was once told by a former professional I was "Chasing sliders" meaning that I wasn't keeping my head still while tracking breaking balls. 

[MadMax]

The most dramatically? The 12-6 / 11-5 fall-off-the-table looper. The risk is that it will typically cross the strike zone high, ignored by the batter, even though it ends up in a "frameable" spot for the catcher. Adjust and "hang it", and your outfielders will be retrieving it from the fence. If you can get it to break late, instead of lazily looping it in there, it'll be more effective. This can be modified a bit, especially in the amateur ranks, with an 11 or 10:30–3 breaker. This is the one that causes amateur batters to bail out of the box only to have it end up in the strike zone. Once this happens, you start to walk it out (as a pitcher/catcher battery), until the batter goes fishing on one breaking away out of the zone.

The most effectively? The slider, especially when it moves laterally with speed. The risk, here, is where it ends up... catchers have to be active and possess above-average catching/blocking skills. A slider in the zone can still be bungled by a subpar catcher (or a catcher not ready for it), and an umpire will either call it a ball, missing that it did go through the zone, or call it a strike, but will catch grief from some OT's because of where/how the catcher caught it.

The most daringly? The cutter. This really is a nasty pitch because it starts away, then bores in on a hitter. Nearly all of its movement is lateral because it's thrown with speed. This is a (wood) bat breaker, as if/when contact is made, it's on the stem, handle, or hands, and a lot of "soft contact" grounders or liners are the result. The risk is, with amateur pitchers, is if not practiced, this may result in a lot of hit batters, which discourage amateur pitchers and put base runners on.

[KenBAZ]

We should talk about movement relative to the throwing arm. In the terms I use a cutter moves away from the arm side. A sinker or two seamer runs toward the arm side. A breaking ball; slider, curveball or slurve, moves away from the arm side. Nothing moved more on a horizontal plane then a Randy Johnson slider.

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[Kevin_K]

And then there is the knuckleball. Which way is it going this time?

Had my toughest game this year working with a knuckleball pitcher

 

[Richvee]

@Kevin_K, Still having flashbacks? 

[Kevin_K]

8 hours ago, Richvee said:

@Kevin_K, Still having flashbacks? 

You betcha!

[beerguy55]

As a batter, the nastiest breaking pitch I saw was a knuckleball (on a really windy day) that was high and outside when I gave up on it, and in last five feet broke across the plate and hit me right in the can...it actually moved through the strike zone - luckily the umpire didn't see it that way and gave me my base.