Key takeaways
- Sort any pitch by what it attacks: the hitter's reaction time (velocity), his read of the ball's path (movement and spin) or his timing (a change of speed).
- Learn arm side and glove side before anything else; it tells you which way a sinker, cutter, slider or changeup will move against a given hitter.
- Expect a starting pitcher to carry three or more pitches, and a reliever to get by on one or two thrown at maximum effort.
- Treat the family labels as conveniences: some cutters behave like hard sliders, and Statcast counts the splitter as an off-speed pitch.
- When you read about a hanging breaking ball, read it as a pitch that lost its movement and kept only its lower speed, which is why it is so hittable.
MLB.com's glossary lists 14 pitch types, and they sort into three main families plus a few rarities. Fastballs — the four-seamer, the sinker and the cutter — win with speed. Breaking balls — the slider, sweeper, curveball and their hybrids — win with spin and movement. Off-speed pitches — the changeup, splitter and forkball — win by looking like a fastball and arriving late. The knuckleball and the eephus sit outside all three.
The more useful way to learn them is by what each pitch attacks. Every pitch from 60 feet, 6 inches is trying to beat one of three things in the hitter: his reaction time, his read of where the ball is going, or his timing. Once you know which of those a pitch goes after, its grip and its nickname matter much less.
The pitch types chart
| Pitch (Statcast code) | Family | How it moves, per MLB.com | What it attacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four-seam fastball (FF) | Fastball | Fastest and straightest; backspin makes it "ride" | Reaction time |
| Sinker (SI) | Fastball | Down and toward the pitcher's arm side | Square contact; produces ground balls |
| Cutter (FC) | Fastball | Late, slightly toward the glove side | Square contact; jams opposite-handed hitters |
| Slider (SL) | Breaking | Sharp, tight break away from the arm side | The read: it starts like a fastball |
| Sweeper (ST) | Breaking | Large horizontal break, slower than a slider | The read: too much width to square up |
| Curveball (CU) | Breaking | More movement than almost any other pitch, sideways or straight down | Timing and the read |
| Knuckle-curve (KC) | Breaking | Curveball break from a knuckled grip | Timing and the read |
| Slurve (SV) | Breaking | Between a slider and a curve | The read |
| Screwball (SC) | Breaking | Toward the arm side — the reverse of other breaking balls | The read |
| Changeup (CH) | Off-speed | Fastball trajectory, much slower, fading to the arm side | Timing |
| Splitter (FS) | Off-speed | Drops sharply, "tumbles" with low spin | Timing |
| Forkball (FO) | Off-speed | Big downward break | Timing |
| Knuckleball (KN) | Rarity | Almost no spin; flutters unpredictably | Everything, including the catcher |
| Eephus (EP) | Rarity | Very slow, very high arc | Patience |
The families are conveniences rather than laws. MLB.com notes that some pitchers' cutters behave almost like hard sliders, and that Statcast classifies the splitter as an off-speed pitch despite its old "split-finger fastball" name.
Arm side and glove side
Two words do most of the work in describing movement. Arm side is the side of the plate on the pitcher's throwing hand; glove side is the other. So a right-hander's sinker, which moves toward his arm side, runs in on a right-handed hitter and away from a left-hander, as MLB.com's sinker entry explains. A right-hander's cutter does the reverse: it cuts away from a right-handed hitter and in toward a left-hander's hands.
Sliders and curveballs move away from the arm side; the screwball and the changeup move toward it. Once you know which hand the pitcher throws with and which side the hitter stands on, you can predict which way almost any pitch will move relative to the batter.
Fastballs: beating the clock
The four-seam fastball is, in MLB.com's words, "almost always the fastest and straightest pitch a pitcher throws," and usually the one he throws most. The glossary puts the major-league average at about 94 mph, with the fastest topping 100. The idea is simple: get the ball to the strike zone faster than the hitter can handle. High-spin four-seamers are called "rising" fastballs because they resist gravity slightly longer than the hitter's eye expects. They do not actually rise; they just fall less, which is why they produce swings and misses at the top of the zone.
The sinker, also called a two-seam fastball, gives up a little speed for movement: down and toward the arm side. Where a four-seamer is more likely to produce swings and misses, a sinker is more likely to produce ground balls, and MLB.com notes that sinkerballers are adept at limiting home runs. It also notes the pitch has become less popular in recent seasons.
The cutter moves a short distance toward the glove side, late in its flight, and is usually a little slower than the pitcher's main fastball. Its reputation is for breaking bats: thrown in toward the hands of an opposite-handed hitter, it gets him to hit the ball on the thin handle.
Breaking balls: fooling the eye
The slider is thrown harder than a curveball, with tighter break. MLB.com's slurve entry gives the average slider velocity as being in the mid-80s and the average curveball in the high 70s. A slider's spin looks more like a fastball's out of the hand, so it is built on deception: by the time the hitter recognises it, it is already breaking away.
The sweeper is a slider variant that trades some speed for width. According to MLB.com, the average sweeper breaks about 15 inches horizontally, against about six for the average slider. It became a trend from late 2021 into 2022, and Statcast added it — along with the slurve — as a separate classification in 2023.
The curveball has "more movement than just about any other pitch," per MLB.com, and is thrown slower than a slider. A hitter sitting on a fastball swings early and over the top of it. Some curveballs break mostly sideways; others drop straight down and are called 12-to-6 curves.
The hybrids and the outlier. The slurve sits between slider and curve, typically in the low 80s. The knuckle-curve is gripped like a curveball with one knuckle raised off the ball. The screwball breaks toward the arm side, the opposite of every other breaking ball, and is one of the rarest pitches because of the strain its unusual wrist action puts on the arm.
A breaking ball that fails to break is called a "hanger." MLB.com's explanation of why it gets hit is the cleanest summary of the whole family: without its movement, it has a straight path and less-than-fastball speed.
Off-speed: stealing the hitter's timing
The changeup leaves the hand on the same trajectory and with nearly the same arm action as the fastball, then arrives much slower. A hitter who reads "fastball" starts his swing too soon and either misses or makes weak contact. MLB.com says almost every starting pitcher has one, while fewer relievers do, because they usually face each hitter only once and need less deception. The catch: once a hitter identifies it, a changeup's low speed makes it among the easiest pitches to hit.
The splitter is thrown with fastball effort but drops sharply near the plate, tumbling out of the hand with low spin. It is generally only slightly faster than a changeup. MLB.com notes it is a much more common pitch in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.
The forkball is the splitter's older, rarer relative: jammed deeper between the fingers and released with a downward snap of the wrist for a bigger drop, at a greater physical cost.
The rarities
The knuckleball is thrown with almost no spin, so it flutters on an unpredictable path. MLB.com says the handful of pitchers who throw it in a given era tend to use it almost exclusively, that it is among the hardest pitches to catch and to call, and that a knuckleball which does not move is easy to hit because it is so slow. Because it puts little strain on the arm, knuckleballers can pitch deep into games and, often, into their forties.
The eephus is a very slow, high-arcing pitch that relies entirely on surprise. A hitter who keeps his weight back can hit it easily; the eephus works only when he does not.
How many pitches a pitcher needs
MLB.com's overview draws the line by role. Starters "often" carry three or more pitches, because they face the same lineup several times and need ways to stop hitters from gearing up for one pitch; the slider and curveball entries both call a breaking ball an essential part of a starter's arsenal. Relievers, who rarely face a batter twice in a game, have historically succeeded with one or two pitches thrown with maximum effort — many power relievers carry only a fastball and a slider.
That gives a practical rule for reading any pitcher. A starter needs something that changes speed and something that changes direction, on top of a fastball. A reliever can get away with a fastball and one weapon. Baseball pitching roles explained covers why the roles differ in workload and leverage.
Where this fits in our games
In Baseball Career Sim 2026, the attributes the game develops include pitching control, velocity and stamina, across pitcher, closer and two-way paths, and pitch counts and bullpen calls are among the situations its simulator is built around. The pitch families above are the real-world meaning of those words: velocity is the fastball family's raw material, control decides whether any pitch arrives where it was meant to, and stamina is what lets a starter keep a three-pitch mix working deep into a game. The Baseball Career Sim 2026 guide covers choosing a path, and two-way players explained covers what it costs to pitch and hit at once. The game's league, teams and players are fictional.
On the front-office side, 162-0 Baseball Draft & GM Team asks you to compare pitchers on ERA, WHIP and WAR and to manage a rotation and bullpen; the baseball draft simulator guide explains what those numbers capture. Its player pool is built from real players' careers, with ratings that are the game's own estimates. More of our baseball coverage is on the baseball hub.
Neither game is affiliated with or endorsed by any league, team, players' association or player. MLB.com and Statcast are named only to identify the pitch definitions cited, and are trademarks of their owners. Our other sports titles are listed under sports career and GM games.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
What are the main types of pitches in baseball?
How many pitch types are there in baseball?
What is the difference between a slider and a curveball?
What is a sweeper?
Why do starters throw more pitch types than relievers?
Sources
- Pitch Types | Glossary (opens in a new tab)MLB.com — accessed
- Four-Seam Fastball (FF) | Glossary (opens in a new tab)MLB.com — accessed
- Sinker (SI) | Glossary (opens in a new tab)MLB.com — accessed
- Cutter (FC) | Glossary (opens in a new tab)MLB.com — accessed
- Slider (SL) | Glossary (opens in a new tab)MLB.com — accessed
- Sweeper (ST) | Glossary (opens in a new tab)MLB.com — accessed
- Curveball (CU) | Glossary (opens in a new tab)MLB.com — accessed
- Slurve (SV) | Glossary (opens in a new tab)MLB.com — accessed
- Changeup (CH) | Glossary (opens in a new tab)MLB.com — accessed
- Splitter (FS) | Glossary (opens in a new tab)MLB.com — accessed
- Screwball (SC) | Glossary (opens in a new tab)MLB.com — accessed
- Knuckleball (KN) | Glossary (opens in a new tab)MLB.com — accessed
- Knuckle-curve (KC) | Glossary (opens in a new tab)MLB.com — accessed
- Forkball (FO) | Glossary (opens in a new tab)MLB.com — accessed
- Eephus (EP) | Glossary (opens in a new tab)MLB.com — accessed
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