The splitter is an art form among pitchers in Japan. You don’t see as many pitchers in the United States throw splitters but in Japan virtually every pitcher in the World Baseball Classic threw one.
I explore why so many Japanese pitchers throw split finger fastballs or forkballs, including Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish, Kodai Senga, Roki Sasaki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and many more.
#baseball #pitching #wbc
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Directed by Rob Friedman
Produced by Will Leahey
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49 Comments
Nomo’s wind up was fkn WILD 🔥
Minor note: The “g” in Sugishita’s name is not a ‘soft g’ but a ‘hard g’, as in “guitar”.
You can hear his name called in this Japanese video: https://youtu.be/OB5A1-GzOVY
His forkball didn’t have any spin so it was sort of like a knuckle, and he’s quoted as saying he has no idea where the ball would go.
It could be Supination Dominant mechanics in Japan are more common. I know Darvish and Ohtani both cut their 4-seam and have it hover around 80%-90% spin efficiency, which is advantageous for Seam-Shifted Wake to affect Splitters. I think. I would have to do more research on it.
The 12-6 curve and the splitter are two of my favorite pitches to watch, probably because of the ridiculous movement both have when thrown properly. It needs to be utilized more, especially now when hitters are trying to get underneath pitches because of the launch angle movement
The Japanese don't eat red meat like Americans. They eat a lot of fish which is great for your muscle fibers and is great for muscle recovery.
While the splitter is a Japanese pitching staple, the conventional wisdom is the same over there, of not learning to throw it until at least high school.
yeah yeah splitters are great and all but the people want to see velocity these days, and there ain't any splitters touching 100
wait what? a 101 mile per hour… splitter? by who? oh come on you're making this up, that's the band that made hungry like the wolf!
I have my own theory on the matter. The actual ball used in the NPB is slightly smaller and has a tackier grip than the MLB equivalent. So, the grip was likely less uncomfortable for Japanese pitchers as the learned their craft. And, as the ball was naturally tackier, they would prefer the split grip over a change-up grip to better effect spin an control of their off-speed offerings.
Great content!
When you’re a complete pitcher, not just a thrower, you utilize north south east and west to cross the hitter up. The splitter is a perfect complement to the fastball (north-south) plus……with a splitter it allows you to take off mph, change of speed so if it doesn’t break as much as you want, you can still get away with it unlike a sinker which closely resembles fastball speed.
Because there are only a few change-uppers in Japan. And also, in the final game, Darvish saved velocity and threw many splitters for Otani’s fastballs and sliders. US pitchers struggled to make each best only…
I wish the knuckleball would make a comeback. Baseball is always better when there are different pitching styles. With a few exceptions, it's pretty much hard fastballs and sliders nonstop
K is such a good freaking book start to finish. Really gets you into the lineage of each pitch. Sugishita always intrigued me due to that book.
One of the greatest influences of the splitter in Japan was Choji Murata, who paired a wicked fastball with a devastating forkball in a 22 year career from 1968 to 1990.
George Kirby gonna get cy young vote this year bet
Maybe players in the Americas believe the change up is more useful because of lefty batters, as it break away from them, as opposed to the split which just go down?
Official baseball ball in US is more slippery than the one in Japan, so I think Japanese pitchers don't get injured so much and when they come to US they get injured soon.
I wonder how tunneling with a changeup and splitter will work. Either one or the other is used and nobody throws both if I recall correctly.
None apparently, only Otani
Circle-Change-Splitter. I'm assuming you're gonna put that between your middle and pinkie finger, letting the ball roll off your ring finger. Ŵe are gonna need to brainstorm new pitch names. A circle change-splitter will now forever be known as Semisplit
Good episode with great context!
is there a country that has players who throw screwballs still and doesnt have a stigma against it? screwballs are awesome.
They don’t. They throw Forkballs. Splitter and Forkball are not the same pitch.
日本の大人気野球漫画のダイヤのエースでも作中最強ピッチャーは豪速球とスプリットの組み合わせを多用しています。それほど日本では脅威的な組み合わせだと周知しているという事です。
The NPB ball by Mizuno is slightly smaller and but has natural tackiness and better grip without foreign substance. Making it easier to spin and manipulate, especially with forkballs and splitters.
I always wondered the same thing. I learned to throw a splitter over 30 years ago, as a little league pitcher at 11 years old. And all the way through my high school career I still used it regularly. Even back then, it seemed like I was one of the few in Vegas throwing it. Everyone else threw a circle change. I preferred to throw it over the top like a fastball, and it was so hard for the batters to pick it up. They either swung over the top of it, or topped a weak ground ball.
In Japan, they call this Fork ball, and describe it as the [legacy of Family treasure that will pass down through generations], basically, every pro pitcher needs to have splitter in their arsenal if they want to remain in 25 player list.
👀🙏
Pitch clock is stupid
Nomo did not dominate after the 1st half of his 1st season. Like all new things the league made adjustments and he became a decent pitching asset. I'm not going to look up the #s to support my claim and i expect someone will provide data to refute it. I don't f*cking care he still didn't deserve Rookie of the Year over Chipper Jones
Its almoar scary
The split is a devastating pitch. I have a hypothesis that the split is superior to a traditional change up, not due to the movement, but due to the ability to throw it to arm side batters. Since the split is using the same fingers and, therefore, hand placement as a fastball, arm side hitters won't pick it up as easy as a circle change which has the ball in a different hand placement than the fastball, making it easier for arm side hitters to pick it up at release.
It’s interesting that the splitter became very popular in Japan in the late 80s/early 90s after the success of Mike Scott.
Growing up in Japan I remember being amazed that Mike Scott could throw a “forkball” at almost the same speed as a fastball.
Its because in the US, people like Homeruns, strikeouts, perfect games…etc. People here like the big plays and nothing else, the plays that make it in the highlights reels at the end of the day.
The reason Japan is so good is beacuse they play small ball, they play as a team. They are not afraid to bunt or to take more pitches to increase the opponents pitch count. Splitters, are so important because in Japan, a ground ball out is as good or even better than a strikeout.
I'm loving how Japan is showing us Americans a new way to approach baseball. The Splitter, Ohtani, etc. Great job Japan. Much Love!
Finally, Japanese baseball getting the cultural, correct recognition it deserves.
I watch the Blue Jays play every night, and I'm still blown away with how long Gausman's split keeps the trajectory of a fastball. I truly believe that the key to getting people interested in pitching is by demonstrating to them the magic of pitch tunneling.
If you can, I hope to see in the future a short of the catcher/batters view of a pitcher tunneling his fastball and offspeed. Also, another video you could do to highlight the nuances of pitching is about the perceived velocity of pitches/release points making otherwise 'slow' pitches appear much faster to the batter.
Love your channel; one of the big channels keeping baseball relevant on social media.
World Champs baybeee
Can't argue with results
U.S ball should be changed to Japanese ball.
U.S ball is a lot more slippery and it causes injury
i love science is constantly evolving. in japan 30 years ago they were afraid of throwing two-seamers or "shuuto" because they would if would ruin your wrist.
Chunichi Dragons legend Shigeru Sugishita threw the first split in Japan
I could never throw a change up well, once at juco I spent a year throwing a forkball, switched to splitter, quickly became my best pitch. Hard at first to understand, but once you get good at controlling it, it’s a weapon
I wish the screwball would make a comeback.
You mentioned Bruce Sutter and my jaw dropped. He came to my elementary school and spoke to my class. He introduced himself as a former Washington Senators baseball player. None of us had any idea he was that good of a player though. We were way too little back then.
It's also a coincidence you made this video about Japan's splitters, because I was just thinking about that this morning lol.
Without watching the video, I think it’s because the pitching motion and ball motion looks like a regular pitch but the ball moves near the strike zone so it’s hard to read.
Because they fucking know what's up.
I believe these US-American coaches are afraid of teaching it because they also don't want to sore up the fingers of their pitchers. In Japan on the other hand, baseballs are smaller in comparison to the ones in the MLB. Senga recently said he won't throw his Ghost Fork, which basically derives from the Splitter, for the rest of Spring Training that often anymore because he basically overstretched his fingers.
My favorite pitch of all time is Koji Uehara’s splitter from 2013. That thing was magic, and (coupled with Koji’s absurd command) made a guy who generally sat high-80s with his fastball completely unhittable.
the two most unhittable pitches is the SLIDER & SPLITTER according to google