Split-finger fastball

A split-finger fastball or splitter is a pitch in baseball and a variant of the straight fastball. It is named after the technique of putting the index and middle finger on different sides of the ball, or "splitting" them. When thrown hard, it appears to be a fastball to the batter, but suddenly "drops off the table" towards home plate—that is, it suddenly moves down, towards the batter's knees. It was made famous by closer Bruce Sutter, who would be the first of many pitchers to make it a so-called "bread-and butter" or "lights-out" pitch of his repertoire. Sutter claims that while he was in the Cubs' farm system, a minor-league pitching instructor named Fred Martin saw Sutter favoring his elbow. As Sutter was recovering from recent arm surgery, Martin encouraged Sutter to try throwing the split-finger pitch, reasoning it would place less duress on his arm. Many give credit to Roger Craig for inventing and perfecting the pitch. The split-finger is very similar to the fork ball, though it is generally thrown with more force.

It is thrown today by many pitchers, including Carlos Zambrano, Dan Haren, Rich Harden, Jose Valverde, and Tim Lincecum, a reflection of its popularity amongst power pitchers. In 2008, Braden Looper threw it 18.4% of the time, more than any other starter in the majors.[1]

David Cone was famous for his splitter, used most often in the middle and later part of his career. A major strikeout pitch for him, Cone would throw it hard like a fastball to get swinging strikes. He also was very effective in throwing it slower, using it as a changeup to throw off hitters' timing. The motion of a split-finger pitch is similar to the outlawed spitball, and at one time the pitch was known as the "dry spitter". When thrown, the pitcher must emphasize the downward pull of the pitch at the end of his motion. Thrusting the hand and forearm downward is what causes the "drop off the table" movement from the pitch.

The split-finger fastball is a very effective pitch with runners on base. A common tactic is using the split-finger to cause the batter to hit into a double play. When thrown correctly, the split-finger's last second drop causes many batters to hit the top half of the baseball therefore inducing a ground ball.