Over the years the slider has surpassed the curveball as the breaking ball of choice.
They’re harder, have a higher average whiff rate and a higher strike rate. So it’s easy to see why the game has gone more and more toward sliders as a primary breaking ball versus the classic curveball.
That said, curveballs are going nowhere and some may argue many of the pitches we mark as sliders are actually curveballs. There’s maybe no pitch as aesthetically pleasing as the 12-6 curveball, coming over the top with a steep downward break. Even if many times that shape serves little function it’s the oddity of making the ball curve with such precision that captures the eye and the imagination.
While there’s still some gray area as to where sliders and curveballs meet, the real separator is what the pitcher calls the pitch. So while two pitchers like Nick Lodolo and Matt Brash may have similar breaking ball shape, what they define the pitch as can differ. Lodolo calls his sweeper a…
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