The Pitch of the '80s Is Back, and It's Taking Over Baseball

There’s a new pitch taking over Major League Baseball.

You might’ve heard that 2023 was the Year of the Sweeper. Last year, it seemed like every pitcher in MLB was throwing a sweeper. Before that, we saw the rise of the high fastball, as increased focus on velocity and spin rate led to unprecedented swings and misses from hitters.

Now there’s another pitch that’s become all the rage. A pitch that, if you’ve been watching MLB for long enough, you’ll be all too familiar with.
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BUSINESS INQUIRIES
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SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: @BaseballHSTRN
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MUSIC
"[Success] Title Screen" - MLB Power Pros Unofficial Soundtrack
"[Success] Sunshine Powerfuls 1" - MLB Power Pros 2006 Unofficial Soundtrack
"[Success] Finalize Player" - MLB Power Pros Unofficial Soundtrack
"[Success] AA" - MLB Power Pros 2008 Unofficial Soundtrack
"[Success] During Season" - MLB Power Pros Unofficial Soundtrack
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SOURCES
"The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers," by Bill James and Rob Neyer
"K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches," by Tyler Kepner
Baseball Reference
Fangraphs
Baseball Savant
SABR Bio Project

[markzuckergecko]

There was an old SNES game called "Bases Loaded" that had a glitch, you could throw a high splitter or forkball, and the NPC stooges would swing through it almost every time, maybe 1/10 they would hit a little squibber. I threw a lot of perfect games with 27 Ks that season🤣

[mikej]

My father taught me a splitter in grade school because he didn't want me throwing a curve at a young age and me not having the higher velocities due to shorter arms. That thing carried me all through high school and I loved it. Every pitch I threw was the exact same angle, release point, and arm velocity. 4seam, cut fb, change up and splitter. Got me multiple one hitters at the varsity level, but I never had the speed to play college. Moral is, it takes a very average pitcher and makes them better if not pretty dang good. Was a lot of fun to throw like that as well. If you have big enough hands, give it a try, kept me playing for a few more years and those times were a blast.

[maxp]

I think the biggest contributor to the revitalization of the splitter was the WBC. Just about every pitcher from team Japan was using the splitter and it was extremely effective

[jameshenner]

I watched a lot of Tigers games in the '80s and the announcers were always talking about the nasty split-fingered fastball of Jack Morris.

[franguidry]

To everyone watching this video, the creator of this video who did all of the research and hours of editing and narration is being ripped off by MLB. They are claiming the rights to this, even though the amount of information used from MLB is minimal. Very discouraging to video creators when multimillion dollar organizations are so greedy that they try to suck every penny they can from baseball fans. They should be glad that these videos bring more attention to the baseball world. This is my grandson who has put house and days in creating this😡

[TheAciddragon]

i think a big reason that the splitter is so effective is because hitting coaches are pushing the launch angle stuff, so it only makes sense that throwing a pitch that has a lot of sink would be very effective against hitter trying to elevate the ball

[EthanSchaner]

The MLB Power Pros music is making me feel all kinds of nostalgia.

[cejannuzi]

Nomo got by in his last years in MLB by throwing his split-finger and then using his fastball as his offspeed. It actually worked for quite a while.

[alexthesniper]

Splitter is the reason why Clemens in Houston was so dominant. His Splitter was nasty

[edandkarendamadio]

Roger Clemens extended his career with the splitter. He came up with, and was successful with, a tremendous fast ball, but when his velocity declined, he found the splitter and pitched another six or seven years featuring the splitter. Not every pitcher can control the pitch well enough to feature it in their mix.

[MidwestArtMan]

Ump: Hey, you're not throwing a spitball, are you?
Bush: No, I'm not breaking any rules.
Ump: Then, how are you making it move like that?
Bush: I'm not telling you.
Ump: Fair enough. Back to the game.

[jvaughan]

I was watching the Tevor Bauer YouTube channel and he said that he learned the pitch while in Japan that every pitcher over there throws one because it's a really tough pitch for hitters that have a flat swing plane. That alot of the Japanese hitters tend to have flat swing plans and that pitch is difficult for them to hit. He basically said its not as common in the US since hitters over here have more of an upper cut swing, but it can be very effective if used properly.

[se]

My favorite pitcher in the late 50's and early 60's was Elroy Face. A stud reliever that primary used the fork ball. He was the best reliever in baseball and helped the Pirates with the 1960 World Series against the New York Yankees. Maybe the best World Series games ever.

[Alexander_Grant]

Oh my God, the MLB Power Pros music got me. It's been more than a decade since I've played that game and I'd still remember that music anywhere from how much I played it. Best baseball game of all time, I wish they'd bring the new ones back to the US.

[dvldog_]

As a Braves fan I remember the splitter/fork ball all too well. Jack Morrison threw a 10-inning shutout against Atlanta in the '91 World Series for the Twins and won the World Series MVP.
Edit: not sure how I missed this, but I have been informed it was Jack Morris, not Morrison.

[markrist]

My grandfather, Marty O'Toole, threw the spitball pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1908 - 1914. It was legal back then. He was a strikeout artist but he set the club record for most walks, 159. He was a teammate of Honus Wagner

[eliottsmith]

Koji had one of the greatest splitters of all time. Man he was amazing to watch.

[PYahWeh]

1:47 before getting into the video, I feel like the influx of Asian pitchers has caused this revival of the splitter. Between Yamamoto, Imanaga, Senga, Ohtani, and the plethora of Asian relief pitchers that have come into the MLB since 2020; they have all influenced the MLB to the point where it’s becoming popular again because it’s reminding people of how EFFECTIVE that pitch is.

If you want me to get even more specific, I feel like it was Kodai Senga who brought the splitter back. During his rookie season last year, the biggest talk in the game was his “ghost” ball which is just a splitter/fork ball with extreme movement. Once pitchers were reminded how effective it can be, they all started getting on the bandwagon.


11:57 that’s so cool! I was correct!😂😂 great video boss!

[post-leftluddite]

I threw a splitter instead of a change....it was just a lot easier for me to throw at the same arm speed and get the differential in velocity I was looking for....that was in the late 90s.

[jemmemccann]

Yes!!! More content, more often please!!!