Part 3: Changeups

In part three of my series on the main genres of pitch types and their individual "species" therein, we will discuss the changeup. 

This pitch is the simplest one to explain after fastballs and follows logically when one thinks about how baseball is played at its most simple levels

I imagine that when baseball was first played, most of the pitchers simply tried to throw the ball by the batter. Naturally, this works great if you can throw hard and actually get it by a hitter. If you can't generate that kind of velocity, you needed to be able to trick your opponent. That's where the changeup comes in.

The changeup is a pitch thrown with the same kind of delivery as a fastball with at a reduced rate of speed and downward break (occasionally with a bit of lateral movement). The hitter, reading the pitch out of the pitcher's hand, will see fastball and swing accordingly. Unfortunately for him, the pitch is often late to the swing and messes up the timing, which is crucial. When done well, it can create moments like these:

Lance McCullers, Houston Astros

Zack Greinke, Los Angeles Dodgers

Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals

The Strasburg example is especially good- you can clearly see the three-fingered grip on top of the ball. This is the most common grip for a changeup in baseball, but there is a second kind that breaks down and away, called the circle change. It's gripped similarly to the standard changeups above, but the pitcher uses his index finger and thumb to create a small circle (like the kind when you are making an "a-ok" sign). This imparts a different kind of movement.

Here is a dual-layered gif of the Seattle Mariners' all-world pitching stud, Felix Hernandez throwing his fastball (the yellow dot) and circle change (the green dot) at the same time. Though it might seem incredible, these pitches are thrown with the exact same amount of arm speed. Also note how the ball is released from the exact same point. His fastball was clocked at 94 MPH. The changeup was clocked in the high-80's. It might not seem like much, but in the fractions of a second a hitter has to make up his mind on the "swing or not?" debate, it's huge. And in Hernandez's case, usually lethal to opposing batters.

Carlos Martinez, St. Louis Cardinals

The last, most curious pitch of all is the knuckleball. This pitch is unique in that it is thrown with no spin at all. Every other pitch I've talked about at length is thrown with spin- this is what creates break. In the knuckleball's case, this lack of spin gives the pitch an erratic, unpredictable movement.

To throw a pitch with no spin, the pitcher grips the ball with his knuckles (if his hands are small) or with the fingernails digging into it, using the thumb for support. The results are usually odd and oftentimes amusing. This pitch is very uncommon in the majors because it is hard to control, hard for catchers to receive, and hard for umpires to call balls and strikes on. The most popular practitioner of the knuckleball today is R.A. Dickey of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Note how the ball just seems to "float" to the plate and tumbles, rather than spins. I think it looks like a slow-motion video of heavenly bodies floating in zero gravity

Another one for good measure.

That's it. I could have perhaps brought up a couple of other pitches like the screwball or forkball but those pitches are so rarely seen nowadays that finding a gif would be nigh impossible.

Thanks for reading!