In baseball, an off-speed pitch is a pitch thrown at a slower speed than a fastball. Breaking balls and changeups are the two most common types of off-speed pitches. Very slow pitches, those which require the batter to provide most of the power through bat speed, are known as "junk" and include the knuckleball and the Eephus pitch, a sort of extreme changeup. The specific goals of off-speed pitches vary, but all are used to disrupt the timing of the batter, lessening his or her chances of hitting the ball solidly, or making contact with it at all. Virtually all pitchers have at least one off-speed pitch in their repertoire.
Famous quotes containing the word pitch:
“I can’t earn my own living. I could never make anything turn into money. It’s like making fires. A careful assortment of paper, shavings, faggots and kindling nicely tipped with pitch will never light for me. I have never been present when a cigarette butt, extinct, thrown into a damp and isolated spot, started a conflagration in the California woods.”
—Margaret Anderson (1886–1973)