Every year, it seems like a new pitch is the most popular in baseball.
This year in the World Series, one pitch has more potency than any other for the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers: the splitter.
In Game 1, Trey Yesavage threw nasty ones.
In Game 2, both Kevin Gausman and Yoshinobu Yamamoto were utilizing it a lot.
Guys like Shohei Ohtani and Roki Sasaki will be using it, too.
It’s a fun pitch, one that is almost unhittable when thrown well. So what is it?
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What is a splitter pitch?
A splitter is a baseball pitch that is designed to drop straight down.
It travels most of the way to the plate appearing like a fastball before falling off the table.
It’s usually 5-10 miles per hour slower than a pitcher’s fastball, and if it drops sharply at the right time, it’s hard to make contact with.
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How does a pitcher throw a splitter?
A splitter is named that based on the arrangement of a pitcher’s fingers.
The baseball is held between the index and middle finger. In a big enough hand, those two fingers can almost align on the direct outsides of the baseball, split in half by the ball.
When the pitcher throws it, their arm motion should travel almost straight down, as if snapping down that split point.
That creates a limited amount of spin on the pitch and a heck of a lot of downward action.
