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Old 05-29-2013, 10:39 AM   #9
BIG17EASY
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 3,291
Quote:
Originally Posted by Questdog View Post
I would expect the Rivera info to just a case of bad data.....pitch recognition is not an exact science.....they were probably intended as cutters and did not show the movement of his usual offering.....
That certainly could be true. But a cutter that doesn't cut is in effect a 4-seam fastball. And there are enough of them charted throughout his last seven seasons on Pitch Fx that I doubt their people are wrong nearly 30 percent of the time. If they are, they need people with better baseball IQ.

My point was that a 4-seam fastball is the most basic pitch in the game, so while it may not be a main pitch for some guys, they all know how to throw it. It's as simple as, put your fingers across the horseshoe and just throw it. No manipulation of wrist turn, finger pressure, etc. is needed. And a 2-seam is just a different grip placement and maybe a little bit of finger pressure to get some arm-side run while letting natural arm angle and release point do most of the work.
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