It was not all thanks to Rivera's cut fastball, of course.
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He struggled for several starts to find the feel on his cut fastball.
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Sabathia's cut-fastball and two-seamer hovered between 88 and 90 miles per hour.
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Afterward, Jansen said that his signature cut fastball had been flat, which gave the Astros an opening.
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Keuchel worked the count to 1-2 and came inside with a cut fastball that was belt high.
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When Gregerson grooved a cut fastball down the heart of the plate, Cano knew just how to handle it.
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"That last outing here, (Moore) was starting to throw a cut fastball that we didn't know he had," Roberts said.
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When Green could not throw his cut fastball for strikes in the first, the Indians sat on his regular fastball.
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We could tell a batter that the home run he'd hit had come against an 85.26 miles per hour cut fastball, .
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Thursday, Sabathia continued his seven-start run of effectiveness, reinventing himself by relying more on his cut fastball than a diminished four-seamer.
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The plan was to use Sabathia as a one-out specialist against left-handed hitters who would be vulnerable to his cut fastball.
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Occasionally, he also throws a cut fastball that does not move as drastically as his two-seamer, but does so in the opposite direction.
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His cut fastball travels between 229 and 21988 miles an hour, but because Jansen takes such a long stride, it looks faster to a hitter.
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The game-ending blow came on a three-run homer by PH Adam Lind, who drilled a cut fastball that Robertson left over the plate.
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Jose Abreu's one-out double against Shaw (4-5) set the stage for Davidson, who hit a cut fastball into the stands in left-center field.
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But what was the value of discussing batting techniques with people who could never relate to hitting a 93-mile-per-hour cut fastball in on the hands?
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Gillaspie crushed the 3-1 cut fastball 404 feet, driving in Gregor Blanco, who reached on a fielding error by Jackson, and Ramiro Pena, aboard on a walk.
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After being sent to the bullpen just before the All-Star break two years ago, Eovaldi pestered Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild about checking out his cut fastball.
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He believes his development — an improved curveball and the addition of a cut fastball and a two-seam fastball — was spurred by the disappointment of the 2009 Series.
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Sabathia eventually returned to 300 pounds with better eating, incorporated a cut fastball into his repertoire as his velocity diminished, and evolved into a serviceable back-of-the-rotation pitcher.
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So he developed a cut fastball and a sinker, put a brace on his balky right knee and became a dedicated student of video, something he never felt he needed to do.
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C. C. Sabathia rediscovered his cut fastball over six and two-thirds scoreless innings, and Gary Sanchez and Chris Carter backed him with home runs Sabathia (3-2) needed a little luck.
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Rays 12, Yankees 3 Mariano Rivera's plaque is the newest addition to Yankee Stadium's Monument Park, where the inscription credits his "signature cut fastball" with leading to 652 saves, the major league record.
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There is no singularly dominant tool on par with Simmons' once-in-a-generation glove, nor does he produce an aesthetic experience as breathtaking as watching hitters flail aimlessly at Jansen's hellacious cut fastball.
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Morton has transformed himself from a sinker-throwing ground-ball pitcher — his nickname was Ground Chuck — to one who relies on a heavy dose of curveballs, a four-seam fastball and a cut fastball.
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But he has refashioned himself with a cut fastball, a changeup, a sinker and a veteran's guile, and has said repeatedly he wants to pitch next season — whether it is with the Yankees or elsewhere.
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Norris fell behind in the count 223-0 before grooving a 91-mph cut fastball over the middle of the plate and Judge hammered it at least 10 rows into the seats in right-center field.
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But he answered those questions emphatically early on by striking out two batters in the first inning, including Carlos Correa, who was left looking at a 91-mile-per-hour cut fastball to end that frame.
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Eovaldi has morphed into a strike-thrower who has learned to spot his 100-mile-per-hour fastball at the top of the strike zone and has developed a cut fastball to keep hitters off it.
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The time off gave Eovaldi the chance to refashion his repertoire — refining a cut fastball that he has begun to lean on heavily and mastering the use of his fastball at the top of the strike zone.
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Down to the final out, Betts planted a middle-cut fastball over the left-center wall to tie the game, and a couple batters later a wild pitch let Pedroia scamper home and put the Red Sox ahead.
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With a signature cut fastball and unflappable demeanor under pressure, Mr. Rivera, 49, earned a record 652 saves, with another 42 in the postseason, and this year became the first unanimous inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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Jansen then jumped ahead with a strike to Renfroe, who was in a 23-for-16 slump over his previous five games before hitting his fifth career grand slam — and seventh homer of the season — on a cut fastball.
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Sabathia said it was difficult to get a comfortable grip on the ball, but he was able to mix his four pitches — two-seam fastball, cut fastball, slider and changeup — well enough to retire the first nine Detroit hitters.
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Billy Connors, a pitching coach and executive for the Yankees known for honing the reliever Mariano Rivera's often unhittable cut fastball and for being a close adviser to George M. Steinbrenner, the team's mercurial owner, died on June 5003.
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And because closers don't pitch to anyone twice in a game, by the time a batter has started to adapt to the sudden movement of Jansen's cut fastball, his signature pitch, that batter is typically headed back to the bench.
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The big left-hander was chasing a finesse pitcher's holy grail: The perfect feel for the seams that would allow his cut-fastball to burrow in on right-handed hitters — the pitch that Sabathia says resurrected his career in 2014.
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Donaldson belted a 2-0 changeup over the center-field wall for a two-run homer in the first, and smacked a 3-0 cut fastball just inside the left-field foul pole in his next at-bat in the third inning.
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Kelly, who hit a tying homer off Jansen in a game the Diamondbacks lost 5-4 in 10 innings at Dodger Stadium on July 3, fouled off back-to-back two-strike pitches before hitting a cut fastball into the seats in right-center field.
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Rivera thrived as a setup man in the Yankees' 1996 championship run and took over as the team's closer in 1997, the year he discovered his devastating cut fastball, which broke hundreds of bats with its hard, late movement into the hands of left-handers.
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But the development of his cut fastball had given them the belief that he could play a valuable role this season as the bullpen bridge to what they had hoped would be a vaunted threesome: Betances and two relievers who were eventually traded away, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman.
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Martin is listed at and . He throws a fastball that averages . He also throws a slider, a splitter, and a cut fastball.
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He throws a mid-90s four-seam fastball, a curveball, and a changeup. He has also begun to develop a cut fastball.
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As a starter, Davis threw five pitches (four-seam fastball, cut fastball, curveball, slider and changeup). As a relief pitcher, he has relied primarily on three pitches: a four-seam fastball in the 95–98 MPH range (topping out at 99 MPH), a cut fastball that averages 92–93 MPH, and a knuckle curve in the mid-80s that he started throwing in 2013.
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Jamie Moyer used a cutter that became an important pitch due to his relatively low velocity late in his career. Many other major league pitchers have added the cut fastball, as well.
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Madson throws three types of fastballs. His four-seamer and sinker both average 95 miles per hour. He also throws a cut fastball that averages 93 mph, and a circle changeup around 85 mph.
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Haren threw an four-seam fastball, an two-seam fastball, a sharp split-finger fastball, and a spike curve. Haren had also added and relied heavily upon an cut fastball, which he added in 2008 and had credited with rejuvenating his career. The cut fastball made up more than half of his pitch selection to right-handed hitters, with his fastballs and occasional split-finger fastball filling up most of the rest. Against lefties, Haren mixed all of his pitches but used his two-seam fastball the most.
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Krol throws four pitches. He has a four-seam fastball in the 93–95 MPH range, a cut fastball between 88–90 MPH, a curveball between 77–79 MPH, and an above-average changeup averaging 83–85 MPH.
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In the 2020 Covid- shortened season, with Baltimore and Miami combined Bleier was 1-1 with a 2.16 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP in 16.2 innings over 21 games. He threw a fastball, slider, cut fastball, and changeup.
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Miller is mainly a fastball-slider pitcher. His four-seamer sits between 92 and 95 mph, while his slider is throw in the low- mid 80s. Less commonly, he throws a curveball in the low 70s and a cut fastball.
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Wilson throws hard four-seam and two-seam fastballs that average 95–96 MPH (topping out at 99 MPH). He also throws a cut fastball in the 90–94 MPH range. His primary offspeed pitch is a curveball that averages 83–87 MPH.
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Wilson was a power pitcher. He has a repertoire of four pitches. He throws a straight four-seam fastball around 92-95 mph; this is one of his main pitches. He also has a slider, a cut fastball, and a two-seam fastball.
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Cruz throws five pitches. His primary three pitches are a four-seam fastball (90–95), cut fastball (87–90), and slider (78–80). Though they are used less frequently, Cruz also has a changeup (82–85) and two-seam fastball (91–94).
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He throws a sinker at 89–93 mph, a four-seam fastball at 90-94 mph, a cut fastball at 87–91 mph, a changeup from 83-86 mph, a slider at 78-83 mph, and a curveball at 70–75 mph.
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Melancon is a control pitcher with a low-90s cut fastball, a frequent high-70s to low-80s knuckle curve with 12-6 action, a less frequent four seam fastball in the low 90s and a rare changeup, an assortment that induces many ground balls.
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Wright is a sinkerballer. He throws his sinker at 90–93 mph, averaging about 92. He also throws a cut fastball at 88–90 mph and an occasional four-seamer in the low 90s. His main breaking ball is a sharp curveball around 77–81 mph.
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Buehrle threw a fastball, curveball, changeup, slider, and cut fastball. He was a command pitcher, relying more on finesse and accuracy than velocity. He was also known for being a contact pitcher, rather than striking out multiple batters. Buehrle often forced line outs, ground outs, and fly outs, with occasional strikeouts.
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His 28 saves in a season for Detroit in 2002 is a record for a Mexican-born pitcher. He retired after the 2003 season. Rob Neyer and Bill James credit Acevedo as having thrown a mid-90s four seam fastball and a cut fastball. In early 2002, Acevedo married Sonja Ptach.
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Soria throws five pitches. He relies primarily on his fastball and cut fastball. Both pitches average about , with the fastball topping out near and the cutter topping out around . He mixes in a slider in the low 80s, a slow curveball around , and an occasional changeup in the low- to mid-80s.
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A cut fastball grip from The Day Book in Chicago who credited the pitch to Christy Mathewson. The New York Yankees' former closer Mariano Rivera, one of the foremost practitioners of the cutter, made the pitch famous after the mid-1990s, though the pitch itself has been around since at least the 1950s. When the cut fastball is pitched skillfully at speed, particularly against the opposite hand batter (that is, a right- handed pitcher facing a left-handed hitter), the pitch can crack and split a hitter's bat, hence the pitch's occasional nickname of "the buzzsaw". Batter Ryan Klesko, then of the Atlanta Braves, broke three bats in a single plate appearance during the 1999 World Series while facing Rivera.
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Moscoso throws three main pitches: a four-seam fastball (90–92), a curveball (77–79), and a changeup to left-handed hitters (80–81). He has experimented with a cut fastball and slider to right-handers, but he does not use them frequently. After he went to Japan, he learned a two-seam fastball.
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After the 2004 season, Bannister played for the Peoria Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League. He posted strong numbers, going 2–0 with a 3.77 ERA against the top prospects in the minor leagues. More importantly, he developed his cut fastball while in the AFL, which would develop into one of his strongest pitches.
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Ann Arbor News 26 July 2003 Fisher's influence on pitchers was still being felt many years after his death. In the 2010 American League Championship Series, Texas Rangers pitcher Cliff Lee gave quite a performance using a cut fastball taught to him by "Ace" Adams, who had learned the pitch from Fisher at Michigan after the latter's retirement.
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His slider traveled around 89 mph. His cut fastball has allowed him to use fewer four-seam fastballs. In 2011, he started throwing the two-seam fastball as well. The two-seamer starts away on a right-handed hitter (or in to a left-handed hitter) and has dramatic inward (or outward) movement over the plate.
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Shields has great command of his fastball and changeup. His four-seamer and two-seamer each are typically thrown 91-94 MPH. His changeup is top notch when he keeps it down in the zone and sits in the mid 80s. Shields also throws a cut fastball that has superb movement and is thrown in the high 80s.
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Another main pitch, used mostly against right-handed hitters, was a cut fastball at 79–82. His off-speed offering to right-handers was a curveball ranging from 65–70 mph. Against lefties, he also added a changeup in the upper 70s. His four-seam fastball was the slowest among all MLB starters in the 2011 season.
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Williams used an assortment of different pitches against opposing batters. He used a cut fastball which he could throw between 89–92 mph, which was considered his best pitch overall. He relied on his curveball as his strikeout pitch, and utilized a straight change as well. Williams was also known to throw an occasional knuckleball in games.
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Lee's repertoire included two fastballs (four-seam, two-seam) that reached 90-93 mph, an 85-88 mph cut fastball, an occasional slider, as well as a circle changeup and a curveball. Lee usually appeared stoic and confident on the mound. It was considered one of his greatest attributes when pitching in pressure situations.jockbio.com, Cliff Lee Biography, accessed August 19, 2013.
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From 2010 to 2014, McAllister threw a four-seam and two-seam fastball in the low 90s, a cut fastball in the mid-high 80s, a changeup averaging about 80, and a curveball in the high 70s. Some sources also list him as throwing a slider. Since being converted into a reliever in 2015, McAllister now relies on 3 pitches only.
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The fourth and final pitch is the "special." Special pitches include the super fastball, super changeup, splitter, cut fastball, and knuckleball. The special pitch is used by pressing the Z and B buttons at the same time. Batters use the analog stick to move a batting circle to where the pitch is shown to go before it reaches the plate.
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Ryan is a control pitcher, featuring low walk and strikeout rates. He throws a 4-seam fastball and a sinker with similar velocities; both are in the 87-90 MPH range, topping out at about 93 MPH. He also throws a cut fastball in the mid-80s, a changeup in the low 80s, and an occasional curveball in the upper 70s.
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Alfredo Aceves Martínez (born December 8, 1982) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Aceves used a fastball, which could reach the mid 90s, a curveball, a changeup, and a cut fastball. He was known for his control and his ability to throw any pitch in any count.
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Feldman with Baltimore (2013) Feldman is a three-quarters pitcher with a sinker, a low-to-mid-90s fastball, a hard dropping slider, a curve, a changeup, and a 90 mph cut fastball. He changed the angle of his arm from sidearm to three-quarters in September 2007. In August 2009 a scout described him as having three "above-average pitches", and a "filthy" cutter.
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Morrow throws a hard fastball which sits between 92 and 100 mph. He has the ability to throw several off-speed pitches, including a slider (85–89 mph), curveball (81–85 mph), and change-up (81–87 mph). In September 2011, Morrow debuted a new cut fastball which comes from making a slight adjustment on his slider, with velocity hovering around 88–91 mph.
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Soriano's primary pitch is a four-seam fastball in the 91-94 mph range. He pairs it with a sharp slider in the low-to-mid 80s. Although he used to fairly frequently throw a two-seam fastball and cut fastball, these pitches seem to have mostly disappeared from his repertoire by 2012. He has been referred to as very "deliberate" with his pitching style.
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Moyer's pitching approach evolved as he aged. Most pitchers lose velocity later in their career, and Moyer was no exception – his average fastball speed in 2012 was about 80 MPH, a very slow speed for a non- knuckleball pitcher. Instead of velocity, Moyer relied on control and mixing his pitches. He threw five main pitches: a sinker, a cut fastball, a slider, a changeup, and a curveball.
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Jansen in 2016 Jansen relies almost exclusively on a cut fastball that mostly ranges from 90–94 miles per hour (mph). Earlier in his career, he was able to throw the pitch at 98 mph, and he exceeded 100 mph in 2014. In 2012, he used this pitch about 93% of the time. His other main pitch is a slider in the low to mid 80s.
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Wheeler also has a 72–78 mph curveball that was rated the best in the Mets organization by Baseball America just after he was traded to the organization. Both his fastball and curve are considered to be plus pitches. Wheeler has also been developing a slider and a changeup. The slider is in the range of 88–91 mph and has been described to be more of a cut fastball.
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Thatcher was unusual in that he threw only two pitches, neither of which was a four-seam fastball. He almost exclusively threw a cut fastball at 83-87 mph or a slider at 77-79\. His slider was mainly a 2-strike pitch. Early in his career, he threw a changeup to right-handed hitters, but he threw only a small handful of those after the 2008 season.
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Tomlin throws five pitches. He has a four-seam fastball (87–91 mph), a two-seam fastball (86–90), a cut fastball (83–88), a curveball (74–77), and a changeup (low 80s). The changeup is used against left-handed hitters, and Tomlin uses his curveball often in two-strike counts. Tomlin walks very few hitters, averaging only 1.6 walks per 9 innings through his first 333 innings.
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Maholm throws a wide variety of pitches and with a great range of speeds. His lead pitch is a sinker in the 87–89 mph range. He also throws a four-seam fastball (87–90), changeup (80–83), cut fastball (83–86), slider (79–82), and curveball (70–75). Maholm uses the cutter and changeup almost exclusively on right-handed hitters, while the slider is used only on lefties.
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Gonzales throws a fastball between . He features a changeup that was regarded as one of the best in his draft class. His command is above average, and throws two different breaking pitches with his curve being better than his slider. After his first MLB stint from June–July 2014, manager Mike Matheny advised him to add a curveball and cut fastball to keep hitters from focusing on his four-seam fastball and changeup.
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As with many older pitchers, Suppan relies comparatively little on pitch speed to get outs. He is a finesse pitcher, using a variety of pitches with good movement to create weak contact for hitters. His expansive pitch repertoire includes a four-seam fastball and sinker in the mid-upper 80s, a cut fastball in the low-mid 80s, a changeup around 80, a big curveball at 70 and a slider in the upper 70s.
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Roy Halladay threw a cut fastball, but claimed that overusing it had given him forearm trouble. This may have prematurely ended Halladay's 2006 season due to forearm stiffness, since the grip causes more stress than a standard four-seamer. Yankee Andy Pettitte is another pitcher who throws the cutter. On a June 3, 2007, game against the Red Sox, announcer Joe Morgan estimated that of Pettitte's 87 pitches, 83 of them were cutters.
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Doubront's main pitches are a four-seam and two- seam fastball that range between 90–95 mph. He also throws a cut fastball (87–89), a big curveball (76–80), and a changeup (85–88) that is used mostly against right-handed hitters. His deceptive delivery results in hitters not being able to pick up the ball until late. The late pick-up also makes his fastball look faster to opposing hitters.
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Motte's primary pitch is a four-seam fastball, which was clocked in the upper 90s during 2008. In 2012, it was clocked at 102 miles per hour (MPH). He also threw a cut fastball that reached 93 MPH and a sinking fastball that reached 96 MPH, and, rarely, an 85-MPH changeup. His cutter has shown the widest variance of movement of all his pitches, to being anywhere from flat vertically to moving up to eight inches.
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Lynn has four pitches in his arsenal: a four-seam fastball that typically travels between (miles per hour) and , and tops out at ; a two-seam fastball [–93]; a cut fastball [–]; and a curveball [–]. He uses his cutter mostly against right-handed hitters. Besides his four-seam fastball, his curve is his most commonly thrown pitch with two strikes. His four-seamer had one of the highest K/9 among fastballs thrown by relief pitchers in 2012.
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A sinking fastball is thrown by gripping it across the narrow part (a "two-seam fastball") so that both the index and middle fingers are along a seam. Lateral motion is achieved by holding a four-seam fastball off-center (a "cut fastball"), and sinking action with a lateral break is thrown by splitting the fingers along the seams (a "split-finger fastball"). Colloquially, a fastball pitcher 'throws heat' or 'puts steam on it', among many other variants.
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Rivera threw four-seam and two-seam fastballs as complementary pitches but primarily used his cutter; according to baseball statistics website Fangraphs, 83.3% of his pitches in 2010 were cutters. All three pitches typically reached a velocity in the low-to-mid 90s mph. Rivera prepares to throw a cut fastball in 2007. Early in his major-league career, Rivera was a "power pitcher" who relied on an overpowering four-seam fastball that topped out at to retire hitters.
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Nova throws four pitches: a four-seam fastball between (tops out at 97 mph), a circle changeup between , a slider/cut fastball between , and a 12–6 curveball between . He relies heavily on his four-seamer against hitters from both sides of the plate. A high percentage (20–25%) of his pitches are curveballs, especially when facing left-handers. Nova worked in 2011 to develop his slider, changing his grip at the suggestion of Yankees executive Billy Connors.
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Pettitte's second tenure with the team lasted six seasons, interrupted by a one-year retirement in 2011, and also produced a fifth World Series championship in 2009. He retired after the 2013 season. Pettitte's pitching repertoire included a four-seam and cut fastball and several off-speed pitches such as a slider, curveball, and changeup. A left-handed pitcher, he had an exceptional pickoff move to first base, which allowed him to record 98 career pickoffs.
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Dempster threw five pitches with some regularity: a four-seam fastball and two-seam fastball averaging about 90 mph, a cut fastball in the high 80s, a slider in the mid 80s, and a splitter in the low 80s. Dempster favored his slider over his splitter when throwing to right- handed hitters and often imparted an obvious, prolonged wiggle to his glove as part of his windup, a move he claims is done in order to prevent tipping opposing batters to his pitches.
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Rivera is regarded as one of the most dominant relievers in major league history. Pitching with a longevity and consistency uncommon to the closer role, he saved at least 25 games in 15 consecutive seasons and posted an ERA under 2.00 in 11 seasons, both of which are records. His career 2.21 ERA and 1.00 WHIP are the lowest in the live-ball era among qualified pitchers. Fellow players credit him with popularizing the cut fastball across the major leagues.
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Keuchel throws five pitches: a four-seam fastball averaging , a sinker averaging , a cut fastball averaging , a slider averaging , and a changeup averaging . He had learned a slurve while in high school, which he did not use in college, as he relied on his sinker and changeup. Needing a breaking ball when he became a professional, he learned to throw a curveball. He did not succeed with the curveball in the major leagues, and he developed a slider, which helped his results.
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A cut fastball, or "cutter", is similar to a slider, but the pitcher tends to use a four-seam grip. The pitcher shifts the grip on a four-seamer (often by slightly rotating the thumb inwards and the two top fingers to the outside) to create more spin. This usually causes the pitch to shift inwards or outwards by a few inches, less than a typical slider, and often late. A cutter is effective for pitchers with a strong four- seamer since the grip and delivery look virtually identical.
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Gagné had an assortment of pitches he used as a reliever but his most commonly used were a four-seam fastball in the mid-to-upper 90s and a Vulcan changeup in the mid 80s. Gagné also featured a two-seam fastball, a slow curveball, and a rarely used slider. Although he was also praised for his "Bugs Bunny curveball," Gagné's changeup was considered his best pitch. Sportswriter Dan Habib wrote: > Most closers depend on one pitch that becomes synonymous with their success: > Trevor Hoffman's changeup, Mariano Rivera's cut fastball.
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On July 6, 2014, the New York Yankees acquired McCarthy from the Diamondbacks in exchange for Vidal Nuño. The Yankees had McCarthy resume the use of his cut fastball, which the Diamondbacks had him stop using, while decreasing the use of his sinker. On September 17, 2014, he pitched an immaculate inning, striking out all three batters in the seventh inning against the Tampa Bay Rays, throwing only nine pitches, becoming the 77th pitcher to do so in the history of Major League Baseball. In 14 starts for the Yankees he was 7–5 with a 2.89 ERA.
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An animated diagram of a cutter In baseball, a cut fastball or cutter is a type of fastball that breaks toward the pitcher's glove-hand side, as it reaches home plate. This pitch is somewhere between a slider and a four-seam fastball, as it is usually thrown faster than a slider but with more movement than a typical fastball. Some pitchers use a cutter to prevent hitters from expecting their regular fastballs. A common technique for throwing a cutter is to use a four-seam fastball grip with the baseball set slightly off center in the hand.
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To deal with this problem a few switch hitters batted right-handed against the right-handed Rivera—that is, on the "wrong" side, as switch hitters generally bat from the same side of the plate as the pitcher's glove hand. In , Dan Haren led all major league starting pitchers with nearly 48% of his pitches classified by PITCHf/x as cutters. Roy Halladay was close behind at 45%. Other pitchers who rely (or relied) heavily on a cut fastball include Jon Lester, James Shields, Josh Tomlin, Will Harris, Mark Melancon, Jaime Garcia, Kenley Jansen, Wade Miley, David Robertson, Jerry Reuss, and Andy Pettitte.
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When he returned the following year, Hoffman's fastball was at 87–88 mph, but he had more experience with his new changeup. His fastball reached back as high as 91 mph in 1998, but by sometime after 2000 it dropped down to 83–88 mph. His repertoire by then included primarily of his changeup, a four-seam fastball, a slower cut fastball that moves in towards a left-handed batter, and the occasional slider and a curveball. Hoffman explained the key to his changeup was how he pinched the seam of the ball with his thumb and index finger as he released it.
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Billingsley was a versatile pitcher, throwing four pitches with regularity and another two infrequently. He led with a four-seam fastball at 90–93 mph and a sinker (baseball) at 90–92 mph. He featured a cut fastball in the upper 80s, an occasional slider in the mid 80s, a changeup in the mid-high 80s, and a curveball that is usually in the upper 70s. (Occasionally, he threw it as slowly as 65 mph, so that it resembled an eephus pitch.) Billingsley typically worked right-handed hitters with all of his pitches except for his slider and changeup.
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White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper worked with Humber, as he replaced his cut fastball with a slider and improved his pitching mechanics in the fashion originally recommended by Peterson in 2005. Philip Humber warms up on April 21, 2012, prior to throwing a perfect game Humber debuted with the White Sox in their third game in relief. He made two pitches, both of which resulted in hits and base runners that came around to score. With Jake Peavy injured at the start of the 2011 season, the White Sox gave Humber the opportunity to pitch in their starting rotation.
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But after the All-Star break, Ortiz quietly turned in one of the better second halves in baseball, batting .297 with 15 home runs and 42 RBI. On August 16, he hit a memorable home run off his friend Pedro Martínez at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, hitting an inside cut fastball into the upper deck. On September 25, he hit the first walk-off home run of his career, against the Cleveland Indians. He finished the 2002 season batting .272 with 20 home runs and 75 RBI. At this point in his career, the home run and RBI totals were both career bests.
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He worked his way into the starting rotation the following year, when he posted a 12–11 record and 4.87 ERA. On August 21, , Lyons no-hit the Boston Red Sox 6–0 at Fenway Park; the game took just 1 hour and 45 minutes to complete (Ted Lyons August 21, 1926 No-hitter Box Score). Lyons was at his crafty best in 1930, when he posted a 22–15 record and A.L.-leading totals of 29 complete games and 297⅔ innings for a team that finished 62–92. Prior to a 1931 arm injury, his pitches included a "sailer" (now known as a cut fastball), knuckleball, curveball, and changeup.
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Rivera's transition from setup man to closer in 1997 was not seamless; he blew three of his first six save opportunities and indicated that he was initially uncomfortable in the role. With reassurance from manager Joe Torre, Rivera settled into the ninth-inning role, and he earned his first All-Star selection with 27 saves and a 1.96 ERA at the midseason break. In the 1997 All-Star Game, he pitched a perfect ninth inning to collect his first save in an All-Star Game. That summer, he added a cut fastball to his pitching repertoire after accidentally discovering how to throw the pitch.
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Hernández has been known to throw a sinker (two-seam fastball), a slider (he avoided the slider early in his career because the team was concerned it might injure his arm), a changeup, and a curveball. His fastball no longer reaches the 100 mph as it did when he first broke into MLB, but he has become a much craftier and more efficient pitcher over the years."Craftier and wiser, Felix pitching better than ever". September 24, 2010 In 2016, Hernández's sinker averaged about 90–92 mph; four- seam fastball at 90–92 mph; slider at 84–86 mph; curveball at 79–81 mph; changeup at 87-88 mph; and the occasional cut fastball at 88–90 mph.
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In the following seasons, he established himself as one of baseball's top relievers, leading the major leagues in saves in 1999, 2001, and 2004. Rivera primarily threw a sharp- moving, mid-90s mile-per-hour cut fastball that frequently broke hitters' bats and earned a reputation as one of the league's toughest pitches to hit. With his presence at the end of games, signaled by his foreboding entrance song "Enter Sandman", Rivera was a key contributor to the Yankees' success in the late 1990s and early 2000s. An accomplished postseason performer, he was named the 1999 World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) and the 2003 AL Championship Series MVP, and he holds several postseason records, including lowest earned run average (ERA) (0.70) and most saves (42).
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A failed starter in MLB, Carrera became an effective long reliever. He had a 90–92 MPH fastball, along with a couple of breaking balls, a deceptive slow curve, and particularly his off-speed pitch; a hard one that was somewhere between a slider and cut fastball. He controlled the running game as well, with a good move to both first base and second, and a quick delivery to the plate. On August 15, 2001, Carrara combined with fellow Venezuelan pitchers Omar Daal, Kelvim Escobar, and Freddy García to win their respective starts: Carrara, of the Dodgers, facing Montreal, 13–1; Daal, in a Phillies victory over the Brewers, 8–6; Escobar, of the Blue Jays, over Oakland, 5–2, and García, of Seattle, against the Red Sox, 6–2.
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A bat broken by Rivera's cutter during his record-tying 601st career save, on display in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Rivera's signature pitch was a cut fastball or "cutter", which exhibited lateral movement towards left-handed hitters similar to that of a slider but with the velocity of a fastball. The sharp, late movement of Rivera's cutter prevented hitters from making contact with the ball on the sweet spot of their bats, leading to them not only making weak contact on batted balls but also frequently breaking their bats. According to a tally by columnist Buster Olney, Rivera broke 44 bats during the 2001 regular season. Chipper Jones, who once witnessed teammate Ryan Klesko break three bats in one plate appearance against Rivera in the 1999 World Series, called the pitch a "buzz saw".
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Hughes in 2011 Hughes's pitch repertoire has varied over the years, although his main pitch has consistently been a four-seam fastball at 92–95 mph, and he has also relied on a spike curveball in the range of 73–77 mph. He has also developed a mid-80s Vulcan changeup against left-handed hitters, and in mid-2012 he developed a low-80s slider to right-handers. Hughes added a cut fastball in the high 80s as a weapon against right-handers in the 2008 season, and he used the pitch 16% of the time in the 2009 and 2010 seasons: By early 2011, Hughes's velocity on his fastball was down several mph; John Harper of the New York Daily News speculated that Hughes's overuse of the cutter was to blame, not a dead arm. Hughes continued to use the cutter into the start of the 2012 season; he posted a 7.88 ERA in April, throwing the cutter about 12% of the time in this span.
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