“It’s a common interest among pitchers.”
The best scene of the 5th World Baseball Classic (WBC), which ended with the victory of the Japanese national team, was by far the final pitching match between Japan and the United States. Japanese pitcher Shohei Ohtani (29, LA Angels), who struck out Mike Trout (32, LA Angels), the best hitter in the major leagues, had enough to excite baseball fans around the world.
The last pitch thrown by Ohtani is a new pitch that is now called the ‘sweeper’ in the major leagues. It was originally called a slider, but various data such as the trajectory and rotation of the ball showed a clear difference from the slider, and it is a changing ball that has begun to be classified as a new type of pitch.
The sweeper is a type of pitch in which the trajectory of the ball is sharply bent in a ‘lateral’ direction. The name sweeper comes from the fact that the ball sweeps across home plate. The degree of bending of the ball is very similar to that of the slider, but there is a clear difference in the trajectory from the slider, in which the ball rapidly bends in a ‘bell’ shape and falls.
Pitchers who use the slider as their main weapon have recently put a lot of effort into honing this sweeper. Kiwoom Heroes’ Ahn Woo-jin (24) and foreign pitcher Eric Yokishi (34) are pitchers who are actively participating in the sweeper trend.
The two unanimously said, “The common interest of pitchers now is definitely the sweeper. We are doing a lot of research while watching videos of American and Japanese pitchers.”
Ahn Woo-jin, whom we met at Gocheok Dome on the 16th, said, “It is not yet at the stage where it can be used in actual combat. It’s literally a polishing stage,” he said.
Ahn Woo-jin showed and explained the sweeper’s grip and throwing method. He said, “First of all, grab a two-seam grip. And when you throw it, you throw it while scratching it from top to bottom like a curve.”
This was the same as the explanation of Yokishi, who was the first to polish the sweeper in Kiwoom. Yokishi also said, “I also hold the grip with two seams. Throwing sweeps from top to bottom like a curve, but I don’t know what scientific principle the ball goes to the side.”
Yokishi said, “I have used it in practice only once or twice in the 2022 season. In my case, I could feel the strain on his elbows. Also, the speed of the sweeper is definitely lower than that of the slider. Because of that, he hasn’t been able to use it often yet.”
An Woo-jin said,스포츠토토 “Among the players playing in the KBO league, NC foreign pitcher Eric Peddy seemed to use a sweeper. The movement of the ball was definitely sideways. If there is a chance, I would like to talk about it in the next head-to-head match,” he said, showing his passion for learning.