Reference · Pitching Academy · Rogers, Arkansas
The pitching
dictionary.
117 terms every pitcher, parent, and coach runs into — pitch types, characteristics, mechanics, metrics, the technology behind the numbers, the drills, and the full vocabulary of modern pitch design. Defined plainly, in one place.
117 terms
Defined in plain language
7 sections
Pitch types through pitch design
29 advanced
Pitch design terminology
Linkable
Every term has its own anchor
Start here
The fourteen terms parents and new pitchers look up first.
A note on evidence. Some terms here describe methods that are widely used in player development but not settled in the research. Where that’s the case, we say so and name who uses them. Sustained use by organizations doing serious development work is real evidence — a different kind than a controlled study, and we try to label which is which.
117 terms
117 terms
No terms match .
Pitch Types
14 termsThe pitches themselves — every offering from the four-seam fastball to the sweeper.
- Changeup
- A slower pitch thrown with fastball arm speed to disrupt timing, with arm-side fade. Youth pitchers usually sit 10–15 mph below their fastball; across MLB the average separation is closer to 8.
- Circle Change
- A changeup gripped with a circle made by the thumb/index finger, adding a slight arm-side fade.
- Curveball
- A slower breaking ball with topspin. A true 12–6 curveball dives sharply downward, but arm slot and release push many pitchers closer to a 1:00–7:00 or 2:00–8:00 tilt, which adds glove-side sweep and shades toward a slurve.
See alsoSlurveTilt (Clock Face)Arm Slot
- Eephus
- An extremely slow, high arching “trick” pitch meant to surprise hitters.
- Fastball
- A pitcher’s hardest pitch with minimal break.
- ·Four-seam: Straight, firm, best velocity.
- ·Two-seam / Sinker: Slightly slower with arm-side run and sink.
- ·Cutter: Slight glove-side movement to induce weak contact.
- Forkball
- A slow splitter-like pitch with the ball jammed between the fingers, producing a big drop.
- Knuckleball
- A very slow pitch thrown with almost no spin, causing erratic fluttering movement.
- Knuckle-Curve
- A curveball thrown with a bent (knuckled) finger; breaks down like a standard curve.
- Palmball
- A changeup held deep in the palm; the grip alone takes off the speed, so it is still thrown with full fastball arm speed.
- Screwball
- A rare breaking pitch that moves toward the pitcher’s arm side (opposite a slider).
- Slider
- A fast-breaking pitch with sharp glove-side movement; tighter and faster than a curve.
- Slurve
- A hybrid of slider and curve with sweeping diagonal break.
- Splitter
- An off-speed pitch with fingers split wide; the grip kills backspin, so it loses a fastball’s lift and drops sharply late.
- Sweeper
- A slider variant with large horizontal sweep and lots of sidespin.
Pitch Characteristics
15 termsWhat a pitch does on the way to the plate: velocity, spin, movement, command.
- Arm-Side vs. Glove-Side Movement
- Arm-side = moves toward pitcher’s throwing arm. Glove-side = moves the opposite direction.
- Arm Slot
- The angle of the throwing arm (overhand, ¾, sidearm, submarine). Affects movement and deception.
- Command
- Ability to precisely locate pitches where intended.
See alsoControlRelease Point
- Control
- Ability to consistently throw strikes and avoid walks.
See alsoCommandWalk Rate (BB% / BB/9)
- Effective Velocity
- How fast a pitch feels based on location and extension (e.g., high/inside pitches “play faster”).
See alsoPerceived Velocity (PV)Extension
- Extension
- How far in front of the pitching rubber the ball is released; more extension = less reaction time.
- Horizontal Break
- Side-to-side movement (arm-side run or glove-side cut).
- Late Life
- Informal term for fastballs that stay lively or jump late due to spin and/or extension.
- Movement (Break)
- Any deviation from a straight path — vertical (rise/sink) or horizontal (run/cut) — caused mostly by spin, with seam orientation adding movement that spin alone does not explain.
- Release Point
- Where the ball leaves the hand in height and lateral position; consistency aids deception and accuracy.
See alsoArm SlotRelease Window
- Spin Axis
- The orientation of the ball’s spin, determining break direction (e.g., 12–6 curve).
See alsoSpin RateSpin Efficiency (Active Spin)Tilt (Clock Face)
- Spin Efficiency (Active Spin)
- How much of the spin produces movement (vs. wasted gyro spin).
- Spin Rate
- How fast the ball spins (RPM); higher spin increases movement potential.
See alsoSpin Efficiency (Active Spin)Spin AxisActive Spin (metrics)
- Velocity
- Pitch speed (mph); higher velocity reduces reaction time.
- Vertical Break
- Upward or downward movement compared with a spinless pitch. High backspin = “ride.” Less backspin = sink; topspin = true drop.
Mechanics
17 termsHow the body delivers the pitch, from leg lift through follow-through.
- Arm Action
- The path the throwing arm takes from hand break to release. Healthy arm actions vary a lot between pitchers; what research links to higher arm stress is timing — the arm arriving late relative to front-foot strike — rather than any one arm shape.
- Arm Slot
- The arm’s release angle (overhand, ¾, sidearm, submarine). It affects the release point and pitch movement.
- Balance Point
- The moment at the top of the leg lift when the pitcher is balanced on the back leg. Modern mechanics stress flowing through this phase rather than pausing.
- Follow-Through
- The motion after release where the arm decelerates, and the body finishes balanced. Proper follow-through reduces stress on the arm.
- Glove-Side Mechanics (Front Side)
- How the lead arm and shoulder behave during the delivery. Coaches use a firm front side to keep the shoulder closed and delay trunk rotation, though the research support for any single position is thin — command tracks how repeatable the delivery is more than where the glove ends up.
- Hip-Shoulder Separation
- The delay between hip rotation and shoulder rotation. More separation is associated with higher velocity, but also with higher elbow stress, and the size of the effect varies a lot by pitcher. Timing matters more than maximizing the angle.
- Inverted W
- A position where the elbows rise above the shoulders with the forearms pointed down. Long treated as an injury red flag, though studies of professional pitchers have not linked the position itself to injury — rotating the trunk early has been.
- Leg Kick (Leg Lift)
- The lift of the front leg during the delivery. Kick height varies widely among effective pitchers and is not a velocity driver on its own; pitchers often shorten it from the stretch.
- Pronation
- Inward rotation of the forearm after release. Important for changeups and for safely decelerating the arm.
- Release Point
- Where the ball leaves the hand in height and lateral position. Consistency improves deception and control.
- Scapular Loading (Scap Load)
- Drawing the shoulder blades together as the arm cocks, used by coaches to describe how the arm gets into position. It is a coaching description rather than a measured velocity driver — the closest tracked variable, shoulder horizontal abduction at foot contact, is studied mainly as an injury-risk factor.
- Stretch (Set Position)
- Compact pitching stance, usually used with runners on base. With runners on, the pitcher must come to a complete stop before delivering; a slide step is used for quicker timing.
See alsoWindup
- Stride
- The step toward home plate after the leg lift. A strong, directed stride helps generate lower-body power.
- Stride Length and Direction
- How far and where the lead foot lands. Stride sets up how the hips and trunk rotate and affects the timing of shoulder external rotation — a short stride tends to leave the arm late. Adults commonly land near 85% of their height and youth pitchers shorter, though studies disagree on how much stride length itself drives velocity once body size is accounted for.
- Supination
- Outward forearm rotation used for breaking balls, generating the sidespin or topspin that makes them break. Breaking balls have long been blamed for elbow injuries, but prospective studies have not borne that out — fatigue and workload are the larger risks.
- “Tall and Fall” vs. “Drop and Drive”
- Two delivery styles:
- ·Tall and fall — stay upright and glide down the mound.
- ·Drop and drive — bend the back leg and push forcefully toward the plate.
- Windup
- A full pitching motion, usually used with the bases empty though it is legal with runners on, often involving a step back and higher leg lift to build momentum.
See alsoStretch (Set Position)
Data & Metrics
15 termsThe numbers on a report card — ERA, WHIP, CSW%, spin, and measured break.
- Active Spin (Spin Efficiency)
- The percentage of spin that creates movement. Higher active spin = more break.
- BABIP Against
- Batting average on balls in play allowed by a pitcher (excluding HRs). Mostly influenced by defense, contact quality, and luck.
See alsoFIP
- CSW% (Called + Swinging Strikes)
- (Called Strikes + Swinging Strikes) ÷ Total Pitches. Measures total strike-getting ability; ~30% is good.
See alsoStrikeout Rate (K% / K/9)
- ERA+ / ERA-
- Park- and league-adjusted ERA. ERA+: 100 = average; higher is better. ERA-: 100 = average; lower is better.
See alsoERA
- ERA
- Earned runs allowed per nine innings. Lower = better.
See alsoFIPERA+ / ERA-WHIP
- FIP
- ERA-like metric based only on Ks, BBs, HBPs, and HRs. Removes defense/luck to show pitcher-controlled performance.
See alsoERABABIP Against
- K/BB
- Strikeouts ÷ Walks. Higher numbers show dominance and good control.
- Quality Start
- 6+ innings and ≤3 earned runs. Indicates the pitcher kept the team in the game.
- Release Extension
- How far in front of the rubber the ball is released. More extension = higher perceived velocity.
See alsoExtensionPerceived Velocity (PV)
- Spin Rate
- Pitch spin in RPM. Higher spin generally increases pitch movement or “ride.”
See alsoSpin RateActive Spin (metrics)
- Strikeout Rate (K% / K/9)
- K%: % of batters struck out. K/9: Strikeouts per nine innings. Higher rates = more swing-and-miss ability.
- Vertical & Horizontal Movement
- Measured break (in inches) compared to a no-spin pitch. Quantifies rise/sink and side movement.
- Walk Rate (BB% / BB/9)
- BB%: % of batters walked. BB/9: Walks per nine innings. Lower rates = better control.
- WHIP
- (Walks + Hits) ÷ Innings. Measures baserunners allowed; lower is better.
See alsoWalk Rate (BB% / BB/9)ERA
- WAR (Pitcher WAR)
- Overall value in wins above a replacement pitcher, based on run prevention and workload.
Pitch Science & Technology
15 termsThe physics and the tools behind the numbers: Magnus effect, Rapsodo, TrackMan, Hawk-Eye.
- Biomechanics
- The scientific study of a pitcher’s motion using tools like motion capture to measure joint angles, forces, and rotational speeds. Teams use biomechanical reports to identify mechanical strengths or inefficiencies and reduce injury risk.
See alsoKinematic SequenceForce Plate MoundSkeleton Motion Detection
- Edgertronic Camera
- A high-speed camera that captures thousands of frames per second to analyze release, spin, and mechanics in extreme detail. It allows pitchers to see exactly how the ball comes off their fingers for precise pitch-design adjustments.
- Force Plate Mound
- Measures the ground reaction forces a pitcher generates with each leg during the delivery. It helps identify how well a pitcher uses the lower body and whether force is being directed efficiently toward home plate.
See alsoBiomechanics
- Hawk-Eye
- MLB’s optical camera-based tracking system, which replaced radar as the engine of Statcast in 2020. Twelve cameras per ballpark let it directly measure spin rate and 3D spin axis — which older systems could only infer — plus player pose and bat tracking.
- Kinematic Sequence
- Describes the order in which body segments reach peak speed—typically hips, then torso, then arm, then wrist. A proper sequence maximizes energy transfer and velocity while reducing unnecessary stress.
- Magnus Effect
- The Magnus effect explains how spin makes a baseball move by creating pressure differences in the surrounding air. Backspin fights gravity so the ball drops less than it otherwise would (“ride”), topspin adds drop, and sidespin produces horizontal break. No pitch actually rises.
See alsoSeam-Shifted Wake (SSW)Spin AxisSpin Efficiency (Active Spin)
- Pitch Design
- A data-driven process where pitchers use tools like Rapsodo, TrackMan, and Edgertronic cameras to refine grip, release, and movement. The goal is to craft pitches that pair well together and maximize deception and effectiveness.
- Pitch Logic
- A smart baseball with built-in sensors that measure metrics such as velocity, spin rate, and spin axis. It provides instant feedback during bullpen sessions without the need for external tracking systems.
- Pocket Radar
- A portable, handheld radar gun that measures pitch velocity accurately. It’s widely used in practice, showcases, and youth baseball because of its convenience and affordability.
See alsoVelocity
- Rapsodo
- A portable pitch-tracking device that measures velocity, spin, movement, and strike-zone location using radar and cameras. It provides immediate data for pitch design and mechanical adjustments.
- Seam-Shifted Wake (SSW)
- An aerodynamic effect where seam orientation alters airflow and creates movement not explained by spin alone. It often adds extra run, sink, or ride to pitches like two-seamers, changeups, and certain fastballs.
See alsoMagnus EffectSeam OrientationSeam-Shifted Wake (pitch design)
- Skeleton Motion Detection
- Uses AI to map a digital skeleton onto a pitcher’s body to track joint angles and movement patterns. It allows detailed mechanical analysis without markers or wearable sensors.
See alsoBiomechanics
- Statcast
- MLB’s advanced tracking system that measures pitch data, batted-ball data, and player movement. It combined radar and cameras from 2015–2019 and has run on Hawk-Eye’s camera system alone since 2020, quantifying velocity, spin, movement, and athletic performance.
- TrackMan
- A Doppler radar system that tracks baseball flight, measuring velocity, spin, movement, and batted-ball data. It was the backbone of Statcast from 2015–2019 and remains widely used in development settings.
- Wearables (Pitching Sensors)
- Pitching wearables are sensor-based devices (like the PULSE arm sleeve, formerly Motus, or smart balls) that estimate arm stress, workload, and movement patterns. They help coaches monitor fatigue, manage injury risk, and guide individualized training plans.
Training & Drills
12 termsThe work between outings — bullpens, long toss, plyos, and arm care.
- Bullpen Session
- A bullpen session is a practice outing on the bullpen mound where a pitcher throws a planned set of pitches between games. It’s a controlled environment used to maintain arm strength and work on mechanics, command, or pitch development.
- Flat-Ground Throwing
- Pitching practice done on level ground, usually at about 60 feet. It is commonly used for light throwing days, injury rehab, and refining command or mechanics — though arm stress comes mostly from effort and distance rather than from the mound itself.
- Live BP
- A practice session where a pitcher throws to hitters who treat the reps like batting practice rather than structured game at-bats. It gives pitchers live-hitter feedback and gives hitters real pitching without full game pressure.
See alsoSimulated GameBullpen Session
- Long Toss
- A throwing drill where players gradually increase throwing distance, sometimes well beyond regulation. It builds throwing conditioning, and some programs finish with harder, shorter throws called pulldowns. Maximum-distance throws place more torque on the arm than mound pitching, so distance is usually programmed rather than maxed out.
See also“Running Gun” Throws (Pulldowns)Throwing Program (Rehab Throwing)
- Plyo Ball Drills (Weighted Balls)
- Weighted rubber balls used for warm-up, constraint drills, and mechanical work — reverse throws, pivot pickoffs, rocker throws. A standard tool in modern player development, including Driveline R&D, used to change movement patterns and train intent. Controlled research has not confirmed a strengthening or arm-protective effect, and heavy-implement programs have been tied to elbow injuries in teenagers, so implement weight and supervision matter.
- Pitchers’ Fielding Practice (PFP)
- PFP trains pitchers to field bunts, comebackers, and cover bases through repeated situational drills. Good PFP improves defensive performance and helps prevent runs during games.
- Recovery and Arm Care
- Routines including band work, light weights, and stretching used after throwing. They help maintain range of motion and keep the arm ready; the evidence that they prevent injury on their own is weak, and managing fatigue, workload, and rest carries more weight.
- “Running Gun” Throws (Pulldowns)
- Max-intent throws taken with a running start, usually into a net. Widely used in velocity development — Driveline R&D programs them roughly once a week in the offseason, for throwers who already have an arm-care base — because they let an athlete exceed mound velocity and feel a higher output. Elbow stress is at or above mound pitching, so they are programmed deliberately rather than thrown freely.
See alsoLong TossWeighted Ball Program
- Simulated Game
- Lets a pitcher face hitter in a controlled setting that mimics real game conditions without being an official game. Coaches can tailor situations, making it ideal for rehab or extra in-game style reps.
See alsoLive BPBullpen Session
- Throwing Program (Rehab Throwing)
- A structured progression of distances, intensities, and volumes used to rebuild arm strength after rest or injury. Rehab versions should be cleared by a physician and supervised by a therapist or trainer, moving from light catch to long toss, bullpens, and eventually game-speed throwing.
See alsoLong TossRecovery and Arm Care
- Towel Drill
- Replaces the baseball with a small towel snapped toward a target during a full delivery. It is dry work rather than low-stress work — measured elbow stress can approach that of a real throw, and release position shifts without a ball in the hand.
See alsoExtensionFollow-Through
- Weighted Ball Program
- A planned routine using balls heavier and lighter than a standard baseball. Findings are mixed — one controlled study of teenagers found a small velocity gain alongside a higher injury rate than the control group, while another found no velocity change — so implement weight, volume, and supervision all matter.
Pitch Design Terminology
29 termsThe advanced vocabulary of building a pitch, grouped into nine areas.
Several terms here also appear earlier in the dictionary — the definitions below are the pitch-design reading of them.
Pitch Pairing and Tunneling
4- Pitch Pairing
- Two pitches deliberately chosen to work better together than apart — matching or contrasting speed, movement, and look so each makes the other harder to hit. Sequencing them well in a game is how the pairing pays off.
See alsoPitch TunnelingSpin Mirroring
- Pitch Tunneling
- Involves designing two pitches to follow nearly identical trajectories for most of their flight. This makes it difficult for hitters to distinguish between pitches until very late, increasing deception and inducing poor contact or swings and misses.
- Spin Mirroring
- A pitch pairing where two pitches spin around the same axis in opposite directions — tilts about 180° apart. The two look alike out of the hand and then break opposite ways. How much hitters truly read spin is still debated, so most of the benefit comes from tunneling.
- Tunnel Point
- The point where a hitter has to commit to swinging — roughly 23–24 feet in front of the plate. The closer two pitches still are to each other when they reach it, the better they tunnel; whatever separates after that point is break the hitter can no longer react to.
See alsoPitch Tunneling
Seam Orientation and Movement Effects
4- Axis Deviation
- The gap between the spin axis measured directly at release and the axis implied by how the pitch actually moved (Statcast calls the movement-based one “observed”). A large deviation indicates the seams influenced the ball’s flight, moving it in ways the Magnus effect alone does not explain.
- Laminar Express
- A two-seam fastball, named by Trevor Bauer, thrown with a seam orientation that produces unusually large arm-side movement. It was first explained by “laminar” airflow on the smooth side, but lab testing has since credited seam-shifted wake instead — a good example of seam placement moving a ball in ways spin alone does not predict.
- Seam Orientation
- The alignment of a baseball’s seams relative to its spin axis. Different orientations affect airflow around the ball, creating movement that deviates from what spin alone would produce, and modern pitch design uses this to optimize grip and maximize seam-shifted wake effects.
- Seam-Shifted Wake (SSW)
- An aerodynamic effect where a baseball’s seams create an uneven air “wake,” producing lateral or vertical forces beyond the Magnus effect. This phenomenon explains why certain pitches, like two-seam fastballs or changeups, move more or differently than spin alone would predict.
See alsoSeam OrientationMagnus EffectSeam-Shifted Wake (SSW)
Spin Axis and Tilt (Spin Direction)
2- Spin Axis
- The imaginary line a baseball rotates around during flight, determining the direction of Magnus force and pitch movement. A side-to-side (horizontal) axis creates backspin — a four-seam fastball with carry — while an axis pointed straight at the target, called gyro spin, produces almost no Magnus movement. Tracking systems report it in 3D or as a 2D “tilt” clock time for coaching purposes.
See alsoTilt (Clock Face)Spin Efficiency (pitch design)Spin Axis
- Tilt (Clock Face)
- Tilt expresses a pitch’s spin axis as a time on a clock face, pointing the way the pitch breaks. For a right-hander, 12:00 is pure backspin, 6:00 pure topspin, 3:00 pure arm-side run, and 9:00 pure glove-side sweep — reversed for a left-hander. A right-hander’s four-seamer usually reads about 1:00–2:00 and a curveball about 7:00–8:00. Adjusting tilt via grip or wrist angle changes movement and is a key tool in pitch design and deception.
Spin Efficiency and Gyro Component
3- Gyro Degree
- Quantifies the amount of gyro spin on a pitch, ranging from 0° (pure transverse spin) to 90° (pure bullet/gyro spin). Pitchers can adjust wrist position to change gyro degree, with lower values increasing Magnus-effect movement and higher values producing more bullet-like spin, useful for sliders or cutters.
See alsoGyro Spin (Bullet Spin)Spin Efficiency (pitch design)
- Gyro Spin (Bullet Spin)
- Occurs when the spin axis points directly toward the target, like a bullet or football, producing little to no Magnus-effect movement. Many modern sliders and cutters use gyro spin for late action, and high gyro can interact with seam-shifted wake effects to create unique movement.
- Spin Efficiency (Active Spin)
- The percentage of total spin that contributes to pitch movement. A 100% efficient pitch converts all spin into movement, while lower efficiency indicates wasted gyro spin; multiplying spin rate by spin efficiency gives true spin, the effective spin causing the pitch movement.
See alsoGyro Spin (Bullet Spin)Spin Axis (pitch design)Spin Efficiency (Active Spin)
Movement Metrics and Concepts
3- Horizontal Break (Run/Cut)
- Measures the lateral movement of a pitch relative to a spinless trajectory, caused by sidespin. Positive values usually indicate arm-side movement (“run” or “tail”) and negative values indicate glove-side movement (“cut” or sweep), with gyro-heavy pitches showing near zero horizontal break.
- Vertical Approach Angle (VAA)
- The angle at which a pitch crosses the home plate, usually negative because pitches drop. A steep VAA means the pitch descends sharply, while a flat VAA gives the perception of a “rising” pitch, helping pitchers manipulate hitters’ swing paths based on release height and spin.
See alsoVertical Break (pitch design)Extension (pitch design)
- Vertical Break (Ride)
- Quantifies how much a pitch rises or falls relative to a spinless pitch due to spin-induced lift or drop. Positive vertical break (ride) means the pitch drops less than expected, while negative vertical break indicates extra downward movement, with backspin fastballs showing strong ride and topspin curveballs showing steep drops.
See alsoVertical Approach Angle (VAA)Spin Efficiency (pitch design)
Release and Deception Factors
3- Extension
- The distance in front of the pitching rubber where the ball is released, usually measured in feet. Greater extension effectively shortens the ball’s path to home plate, increasing perceived velocity and reducing hitter reaction time.
- Perceived Velocity (PV)
- Adjusts the pitch’s actual speed based on the pitcher’s extension, showing how fast the pitch “looks” to the hitter. Longer extension increases PV, making even moderate-speed pitches appear quicker, while shorter extension reduces PV.
- Release Window
- The three-dimensional area from which a pitcher delivers the ball, including height, lateral position, and extension. Maintaining a consistent release window across pitches maximizes deception and supports effective pitch tunneling.
Supination vs. Pronation (Release Action)
2- Pronation
- The inward rotation of the forearm at release, like turning a doorknob left for a right-hander. It is used to reduce spin, add arm-side run or fade, and enhance drop on pitches such as changeups, sinkers, and two-seamers.
- Supination
- The outward rotation of the forearm at release, like turning a doorknob right for a right-hander. It generates sidespin or topspin for breaking balls like sliders and curveballs, controlling lateral or downward movement.
Modern Pitch Variations and Grips
4- Gyro Slider
- A slider that relies on bullet (gyro) spin rather than pure sidespin, resulting in a tight, short break with minimal horizontal and upward movement. Because it gets almost no lift it falls noticeably more than a fastball over the same flight. It is usually thrown harder than a sweeper and tunnels well off a four-seam fastball.
- One-Seam Fastball
- A fastball (sinker) gripped so only one seam prominently interacts with the air, enhancing seam-shifted wake effects. This grip produces extra arm-side movement compared to a standard two-seamer but can be harder to command.
- Splitter (Split-Change)
- A pitch with fingers split wide that comes out with very little spin, so it gets almost no backspin lift and falls sharply. Modern “kill-spin” splitters maximize drop while minimizing Magnus effect, often appearing like a fastball out of the hand before diving near the plate.
- Sweeper
- A slider variant built for maximum glove-side break — around 15 inches, versus about 6 for a typical slider — with almost no ride, so it still drops but moves mostly sideways. The sweep comes from near-pure sidespin plus seam-shifted wake; sweepers are slower than traditional sliders but excel at generating chase swings out of the zone.
Technology and Tools in Pitch Design
4- Edgertronic Camera
- Ultra high-speed camera capable of thousands of frames per second. Used in labs and bullpens to visualize the moment the ball leaves the hand, seam orientation, and spin patterns. Ideal for diagnosing grip issues and release mechanics, often paired with TrackMan or Rapsodo data for full pitch design analysis.
- Hawk-Eye
- MLB’s current pitch-tracking system (replacing TrackMan in 2020). Use multiple high-resolution cameras to capture the full flight and 3D spin axis of every pitch. Provides direct, in-game measurement of spin axis and movement, enabling advanced analysis like seam-shifted wake effects.
See alsoHawk-EyeTrackMan (pitch design)
- Rapsodo
- Portable radar-and-camera tracking device used in bullpens and labs. Measures velocity, spin rate, spin efficiency, tilt (axis), horizontal/vertical break, and strike location in real time. Newer models can also visualize seam orientation, making it ideal for iterative pitch design and immediate feedback.
See alsoRapsodoTrackMan (pitch design)Edgertronic Camera (pitch design)
- TrackMan
- Radar-based pitch tracking system implemented in MLB parks (2015–2019) and widely used in training facilities. Tracks trajectory, spin rate, inferred spin axis, release angle, extension, and movement. While revolutionary for quantifying “stuff” and spin efficiency, pre-2020 TrackMan could not directly measure the spin axis, limiting some advanced analyses.
See alsoTrackManHawk-Eye (pitch design)
A dictionary is a starting point, not a coaching plan. Terms describe what is happening; a coach decides what to do about it. — TAP Athletes Pitching Academy
Where the vocabulary gets used.
Every term on this page shows up somewhere in how we train pitchers at our Rogers, Arkansas facility — in the mechanics work, in the data, and in the pitch design classes.