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. 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. 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, made the pitch famous, though the pitch itself has been around since at least the 1950s.

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).

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. In 2010, Roy Halladay threw a cutter 34.2% of the time, the highest rate among major league starters.

External link

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