Kluber’s best pitch is so good it can’t be labeled. Somewhere between a cutter, slider and curveball, it’s a brilliant combination of velocity and movement. Opponents chased 42.9 percent of Kluber’s cutters out of the zone, highest rate in the AL and second-highest in the MLB among qualified starters.
“None of us are really robots. The more you throw a pitch, the more comfortable you feel, the more you learn different ways to manipulate it. You can make it bigger, make it smaller, with more depth, things like that. I think what gets guys out is messing with timing and manipulating the ball.”
The Grip
Kluber’s grip almost resembles that of a four-seamer, but the index and middle fingers are close together toward one side of the seams, rather than spread out among the horseshoe. His thumb grips the bottom seam rather than tucking completely below the ball.
Top Five Pitches
| Date | Batter | Velocity | |
| 1 | 5/8/18 | Domingo Santana | 92.1 |
| 2 | 7/7/18 | Mark Canha | 91.5 |
| 3 | 5/25/18 | Alex Bregman | 91.2 |
| T4 | 7/7/18 | Khris Davis | 91.0 |
| T4 | 7/2/18 | Lucas Duda | 91.0 |
| T4 | 5/2/18 | Drew Robinson | 91.0 |
Percent Thrown By Location
23.2%
88.4
8.7
The Cut
These players just missed the cut but are each armed with a unique pitch that
garnered consideration for the league’s most dominant offering.
Chris Sale, Red Sox Sale’s sweeping slider is magnificent in its own right, especially when he throws it against left-handed hitters. The pitch almost looks like it’s behind the batter’s back, and it ends up in the strike zone. Sale’s bid for the top spot here was hurt by injuries and struggles in the postseason.
Max Scherzer, Nationals This pitch was the third that landed Scherzer in contention for the league’s most dominant – a good measuring stick for how good of a season he had. Scherzer won 18 games, tied for the National League lead – and his command of the slider was a big reason for that.
Jacob deGrom, Mets Like Scherzer, deGrom graces this list for the third time, and it’s no surprise. His hard slider – it averaged 91.1 mph – produced a 36.5 miss rate.
Peer Review
The statistics don’t paint the whole picture. Some of baseball’s best hitters have put into their own words why these pitches are so tough to hit.
“[He] sets up his slider probably better than anybody in the game. Two-seamer backdoor … and then the slider, cutter, whatever you want to call it gets righties diving in pretty good. I’m glad I’m out of that division.”
“He gets so much spin that it goes sideways. Sometimes I think it’s hard for him to know where it’s going. Then he dials in and finds the release for it, and he can kind of do whatever he wants with it.”
Written by Anthony Gulizia
Illustrations by Eddie Guy
Photos by Getty
Research by Jacob Nitzberg, Sarah Langs and Bradford Doolittle