Cutter (baseball)

An animated diagram of a cutter

In baseball, a cutter, or cut fastball, is a type of fastball which breaks slightly toward the pitcher's glove side as it reaches home plate.^[1] This pitch is somewhere between a slider and a fastball, as it is usually thrown faster than a slider but with more motion than a typical fastball.^[1] Some pitchers use a cutter as a way to prevent hitters from expecting their regular fastballs. A common technique used to throw a cutter is to use a four-seam fastball grip with the baseball set slightly off center in the hand. When a batter is able to hit a cutter pitch, it often results in a ground ball leading to an easy out.^{[citation needed]}

Professional practitioners

The New York Yankees' closer Mariano Rivera, one of the foremost practitioners of the cutter,^[1] made the pitch famous, though the pitch itself has been around since at least the 1950s. ^[2]

When the cut fastball is working correctly, mainly against opposite-handed batters (e.g., 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." Ryan Klesko, then of the Atlanta Braves, broke three bats in a single plate appearance during the 1999 World Series while facing Mariano Rivera. A few switch hitters have even been known to bat right-handed against the right-handed Rivera (the "wrong" side; switch hitters generally bat from the side of home plate opposite to the pitcher's throwing hand).^[3][4]

Braves third baseman Chipper Jones attributed the increased dominance of pitchers from 2010-2011 to a more prolific use of the pitch, as did Cleveland Indians pitcher Chris Perez. ^[5][6] In 2010, Roy Halladay threw a cutter 34.2% of the time, the highest rate among major league starters.^[7]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Chen, Albert (June 13, 2011). "This Is The Game Changer: Is the cut fastball a magic pitch? It stymies hitters, revives pitchers' careers (hello, Dan Haren) and has helped shift the game's balance from plate to mound. The cutter: It's not just for Mariano anymore". SI.com. Sports Illustrated. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1187105/index.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-09. 
2. ^ Verducci, Tom (2009-10-05). "Mariano Saves". Sports Illustrated. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1160757/index.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-30. 
3. ^ Kepner, Tyler (2004-03-23). "For Yankees and Rivera, It's Case Closed". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/23/sports/baseball/23YANK.html?ex=1185508800&en=4b0b15b676654a56&ei=5070. Retrieved 2007-07-25. 
4. ^ "AL East". Sporting News. 2005-07-08. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_27_229/ai_n14713597. Retrieved 2007-08-23. 
5. ^ Olney, Buster. Cutting into the action. ESPN. 9 May 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
6. ^ Manoloff, Dennis. From atop the AL Central, Cleveland Indians ponder baseball's shrinking 2011 offense. The Plain Dealer. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
7. ^ Major League Leaderboards >> 2008 >> Pitches >> Pitch Type Statistics. FanGraphs Baseball. Retrieved 2 July 2011.

External link

• This Is The Game Changer. A Sports Illustrated article on the cut fastball.