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contribute help learn to edit community portal recent changes upload file special pages search search appearance donate create account log in personal tools donate create account log in contents move to sidebar hide top 1 history 2 purpose and technique 3 notable splitter pitchers toggle notable splitter pitchers subsection 3 1 1970s and 1980s 3 2 1990s 3 3 2000s 3 4 2010s 3 5 2020s 4 references 5 further reading toggle the table of contents split finger fastball 2 languages 한국어 中文 edit links article talk english read edit view history tools tools move to sidebar hide actions read edit view history general what links here related changes upload file permanent link page information cite this page get shortened url switch to legacy parser print export download as pdf printable version in other projects wikidata item appearance move to sidebar hide from wikipedia the free encyclopedia baseball pitch a split finger fastball or splitter is an off speed pitch in baseball that initially looks like a fastball from the batters perspective but then drops suddenly derived from the forkball it is aptly named because the pitcher puts the index and middle finger on different sides of the ball 1 history edit the splitter grew out of a much older pitch the forkball which was first used in the major leagues in the 1920s 2 the modern splitter is often credited to baseball coach fred martin who threw the pitch in the minor leagues as a changeup of sorts when a young bruce sutter returned from surgery to find his fastball had lost velocity martin taught sutter the pitch 3 sutter s success as a closer helped popularize the pitch another early proponent of the splitter was roger craig a pitcher turned manager in the 1980s he taught it to a number of pitchers on the teams he coached the detroit tigers and san francisco giants 2 longtime player and manager mike scioscia called the splitter the pitch of the 80s 1 the splitter eventually lost popularity in mlb after concerns arose that extensive use of the pitch could rob pitchers of fastball speed 4 and increase injury risk 5 several major league teams discourage pitching prospects from throwing or learning the pitch 1 in 2011 only 15 starting pitchers used it as part of their regular repertoire 6 splitter usage has begun to see a resurgence in the 2020s with little research indicating support for the increased injury risk and the mlb success of japanese splitter throwers from npb where the splitter has long been a primary pitch as key factors 5 purpose and technique edit the main purpose of the split fingered pitch is for the pitcher to make the batter believe it will be a fastball in the strike zone then at the last second the pitch dips down which causes the batter to either swing over the pitch or ground it weakly into the infield 7 8 the split finger grip is similar to the forkball grip however the forkball is held further back and wider between the fingers and is usually thrown with a wrist flip that makes it slower than the splitter 9 the split finger is often recommended as an alternative to breaking pitches to young players because of its simplicity and the significantly reduced risk of injury an off speed pitch the splitter is generally thrown slower than the pitcher s fastball according to pitchf x the average four seam fastball from a right handed pitcher in 2010 was 92 mph whereas the average splitter was 85 mph and the average changeup 83 mph 10 the motion of a split finger pitch is similar to the outlawed spitball and at one time the pitch was known as the dry spitter when thrown the pitcher must emphasize the downward pull of the pitch at the end of his motion 11 12 thrusting the hand and forearm downward causes reduced backspin relative to a fastball thus giving the appearance of drop off the table movement from the pitch when thrown correctly the split finger s apparent last second drop causes many batters to hit the top half of the baseball thereby inducing a ground ball 13 8 the split finger fastball is a very effective pitch with runners on base a common tactic is using the split finger to cause the batter to hit into a double play the disadvantage of using a splitter with runners on base is that the extreme downward trajectory of the pitch could land the ball into the dirt and cause a wild pitch to advance the runners a pitcher must trust their catcher when throwing it 14 15 notable splitter pitchers edit 1970s and 1980s edit bruce sutter a hall of fame inductee was a dominant closer in the 1970s and 80s and made heavy use of the split finger pitch he won the 1979 cy young and became the only national league pitcher to lead the league in saves 5 times 16 17 jack morris learned the pitch from roger craig in 1980 and it became an effective out pitch for the hurler for his 18 year hall of fame career 18 mike scott also learned the pitch from craig after the 1984 season and it turned his career around he became one of the most dominant pitchers in the 1980s he won the 1986 nl cy young award and posted a league leading 306 strikeouts that year 19 dave stewart was known for his blazing fastball but had a mostly inconsistent major league career until he learned the splitter after signing with the oakland athletics in 1986 he would go on to have 4 consecutive 20 win seasons from 1987 to 1990 20 1990s edit roger clemens in the 1980s primarily threw a fastball in the high 90s along with a hard breaking slider by the 1990s he began heavily featuring a splitter he called mr splitty it would become his main strikeout pitch clemens is often cited as having perhaps the most devastating splitter in baseball history due to its movement and velocity 21 david cone had a variety of elite breaking pitches including a cutter curveball and slider but in the 1990s his splitter became his most dangerous and main strikeout pitch when ahead in the count 22 kevin appier with a motion being described as herky jerky used a devastating slider and splitter combo to become one of the top starters in the 1990s 23 hideo nomo mastered the splitter in japan and it was known for the amount of movement it could generate he could also change speeds on his splitter and would use it as his main off speed pitch he won the rookie of the year award while also leading the nl in strikeouts in 1995 24 the effect nomomania is named after him by the usa media for his noteworthy impact in the baseball curt schilling learned the pitch in his late 20s while on the philadelphia phillies for the first 8 years of his career he was not known as a strikeout pitcher but after featuring the pitch starting in the 1996 season he became one of the top strikeout pitchers of all time totaling 3 116 for his career 25 2000s edit randy johnson developed a splitter later in his career after losing some of his fastball velocity he used the pitch as a slower offspeed pitch to contrast with his sweeping and harder slider it became a key pitch for him especially during his four cy young award winning years with the arizona diamondbacks including his 2001 world series co mvp performance 26 dan haren was a three time all star and used the splitter as his main strikeout pitch the majority of his splitters were thrown with two strikes 27 john smoltz was known for having one of the best sliders in baseball history but he relied increasingly on a splitter later in his career he featured the splitter heavily in his four year run as the atlanta braves closer from 2001 to 2004 he kept using the pitch in his return as a dominant starter from 2005 until the end of his career in 2009 28 kazuhiro sasaki possessed a dominant splitter that was nicknamed the thang by the seattle mariners radio announcers he was one of the top closers in mlb for his four years with the mariners 29 2010s edit masahiro tanaka brought his devastating splitter from japan and it dominated mlb hitters from 2014 to 2020 with the ny yankees he represented the trend in the 2010s when the pitch was mostly used by pitchers who came over from japan since the pitch had fallen out of favor in mlb since the late 1990s and early 2000s due to injury concerns 30 hisashi iwakuma was a soft tossing righty for the seattle mariners who finished 3rd in the al cy young voting in 2013 and whose splitter was considered his main pitch 31 32 koji uehara pitched 21 years between nippon professional baseball and mlb and mainly featured a splitter 33 34 shohei ohtani is known for his splitter that is said to fall off a table his splitter was considered one of the most unhittable pitches in baseball after his first season pitching for the los angeles angels in 2018 35 2020s edit kevin gausman has used a splitter from the start of his mlb career in 2013 but began using it as up to 40 of his pitches in 2020 his use of the splitter greatly increased his strikeout totals leading to him making two all star teams and becoming one of the better pitchers of the 2020s 36 37 38 39 casey mize uses a hard splitter with excellent control as his strikeout pitch mize was the first player taken in the 2018 mlb draft his dominant use of the pitch in college at auburn and his selection as the first pick in the draft indicated the splitter was starting to become more in vogue again and some of the fears of the 1990s and 2000s about it had subsided 40 41 42 yoshinobu yamamoto utilized his splitter to become one of the premier pitchers in japan before signing with the los angeles dodgers in 2024 his splitter often clocking 92 93 mph has been a key component of his pitching arsenal in a 2023 interview roger clemens remarked that yamamoto s splitter reminded him of his own noting similarities in movement and velocity 43 roki sasaki primarily features a fastball and splitter with the latter drawing significant attention as a potential game changing pitch in major league baseball his splitter has been described as unlike any mlb pitch we ve seen before exhibiting extremely low spin rates and dramatic late movement that confounds hitters in his spring training outings for the dodgers sasaki s splitter achieved an 83 whiff rate with 10 swings and misses out of 12 swings and six of nine plate appearances ending in strikeouts via the splitter 44 45 fernando cruz s splitter has been described as unhittable and he credits his mlb career to learning the pitch 46 47 48 references edit baseball portal 1 2 3 split finger fastball once popular is falling away new york times associated press october 1 2011 retrieved september 17 2012 1 2 james bill neyer rob june 15 2004 the forkball fast and slow the neyer james guide to pitchers an historical compendium of pitching pitchers and pitches simon and schuster pp 45 51 isbn 9780743261586 retrieved july 2 2012 fimrite ron september 17 1979 this pitch in time saves nine sports illustrated archived from the original on june 25 2020 retrieved july 2 2024 christensen joe july 22 2011 curve now takes a back seat to other breaking pitches star tribune retrieved september 17 2012 1 2 crizer zach june 5 2023 why the splitter could flip from baseball taboo to popular experiment for mlb pitchers yahoo sports retrieved may 5 2024 leaderboards baseball prospectus retrieved september 17 2012 what is a splitter pitch in baseball platecrate march 15 2025 retrieved may 24 2025 1 2 how do curve balls cutters sinkers and sweepers work tufts now august 22 2024 retrieved may 24 2025 ryan shane june 12 2012 forkball the other forgotten pitch retrieved march 24 2022 league average pitchf x data texasleaguers com texas leaguers retrieved july 2 2012 jay jaffe june 6 2023 remembering roger craig sage of the split fingered fastball 1930 2023 fangraphs retrieved may 24 2025 who invented the split finger fastball a journey through its origins platecrate march 15 2025 retrieved may 24 2025 how does a splitter move understanding the physics behind the pitch platecrate march 15 2025 retrieved may 24 2025 clemens ben may 15 2024 fernando cruz s splitter is unhittable but batters keep trying fangraphs retrieved may 24 2025 cruz s splitter has a low zone rate and regularly ends up out of the strike zone which makes it effective but also increases the risk of wild pitches wild pitch mlb com retrieved may 24 2025 defined as a pitch so errant the catcher cannot control it with ordinary effort allowing runners to advance bruce sutter baseball reference com retrieved may 24 2025 bruce sutter national baseball hall of fame and museum retrieved may 24 2025 james bill the bill james baseball abstract 1987 amazon ballantine books retrieved may 24 2025 neyer rob rob neyer s big book of baseball lineups amazon simon schuster retrieved may 24 2025 neyer rob rob neyer s big book of baseball legends amazon simon schuster retrieved may 24 2025 candiotti tom june 14 2002 fastball splitter key to clemens success retrieved july 2 2012 verducci tom the art of pitching david cone s mastery of mound craft sports illustrated time inc retrieved may 24 2025 dead link neyer rob rob neyer s big book of baseball lineups amazon simon schuster retrieved may 24 2025 verducci tom east meets west hideo nomo s impact on the majors sports illustrated time inc retrieved may 24 2025 dead link schilling curt bruce chadwick 2012 going deep 20 years on the mound triumph books isbn 160078545x price s l 2006 pitching around the world randy johnson s journey to the hall of fame potomac books isbn 157488638x stark jayson pitching profiles dan haren s splitter success espn com espn inc retrieved may 24 2025 smoltz john don yaeger 2012 starting and closing perseverance faith and one man s baseball journey william morrow isbn 0062120549 street jim sasaki s impact japanese star shines as mariners closer mlb com major league baseball retrieved may 24 2025 schoenfield david how masahiro tanaka s splitter revived a dying pitch in mlb espn com espn inc retrieved may 24 2025 johns greg november 12 2013 iwakuma finishes third in al cy young voting the seattle times retrieved may 24 2025 perry dayn august 15 2013 hisashi iwakuma s splitter the pitch that powers his success cbs sports retrieved may 24 2025 newman patrick may 20 2019 koji uehara s remarkable career spans japan and mlb mlb com retrieved may 24 2025 laurila david april 21 2015 koji uehara s extreme splitter usage fangraphs baseball retrieved may 24 2025 uehara has thrown 24 pitches this season and 21 of them have been splitters showcasing his reliance on the pitch passan jeff shohei ohtani s two way brilliance breaking down his unhittable splitter espn com espn inc retrieved may 24 2025 zwelling arden december 1 2021 why kevin gausman s splitter makes him an ace sports illustrated retrieved may 24 2025 kevin gausman stats fantasy news mlb com retrieved may 24 2025 kevin gausman free agent profile mlb com retrieved may 24 2025 kevin gausman pitch type splits fangraphs retrieved may 24 2025 callis jim august 20 2020 mize shows off nasty splitter in debut mlb com retrieved may 24 2025 axisa mike june 4 2018 mlb draft...