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The "Sweeper" in Baseball

TheWerewolfFromTwilight

TheWerewolfFromTwilight

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Oct 25, 2021
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I haven't watched a ton of baseball this year, but I don't think I've seen a game where this term wasn't used multiple times... probably per inning, actually. There is clearly an initiative for anyone announcing a game to float the term out there ad nauseam.

I assume this is describing either a slider, a curve ball, or some hybrid between the two. Was the generic "breaking ball" term not all-encompassing enough? I just don't get it. I know they have been ramming "exit velocity" down everyone's throat, but "sweeper" isn't exactly hip-sounding.

SCILIPOTI-C.jpg


Like, who just randomly decided this was necessary?
 
If the ball path was lined up with a clock, I've always considered a curveball to be anything with vertical movement closer to 12 to 6 than 3 to 9 and a slider to basically be the opposite. And then a cutter would basically be something determined by grip as opposed to arm/wrist twist that moved (more horizontally than vertically) but stayed within a certain range of a pitcher's max velocity.

Just seems silly to invent a new term for what doesn't seem to be a new pitch. Sounds like it's just an effective slider then.
 
KennyTheKangaroo said:
Sliders really aren’t 3 to 9 they are more like 1 or 2 to 7 or 8.
Click to expand...

Then what's a curveball? They're definitely not all 12 to 6. I know there are also "slurves," but I've also considered a slider in its purest form to be mostly horizontal. That was the first "junk" pitch I started throwing, because it was all wrist as opposed to elbow - though I'm sure there there are 900 ways to throw all of these.
 
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Back in my day, what they are now calling a “sweeper,” we would have called a lousy curveball…

Go Pitt.
 
BTisinDC said:
Whatever happened to the palm ball?
Click to expand...

Isn't that basically the antiquated version of the changeup? I wish I could remember what movie it's from, but there was one where a guy tries to perfect the rising fastball. I remember throwing it as a kid (to my dad) after seeing it. He told me it was rising... but he was probably lying.
 
TheWerewolfFromTwilight said:
Isn't that basically the antiquated version of the changeup? I wish I could remember what movie it's from, but there was one where a guy tries to perfect the rising fastball. I remember throwing it as a kid (to my dad) after seeing it. He told me it was rising... but he was probably lying.
Click to expand...

I assumed there was a difference, sort of like a circle change is a variation of the changeup.
 
Joe the Panther Fan said:
I thin the best way to look at it is like this. Curve balls curve. Sliders slide. Whereas the sweeper sweeps.

:D
Click to expand...
Actually you're more correct than you might think. Sliders
DO "slide." I was a pitcher/third baseman when I played. I
had a curve ball ( what pitcher doesn't? LOL ). I couldn't
master the slider, but my team mate could throw a nasty
slider. Basically it comes at the batter lacking the spin that
a curve ball has. It literally "slides" into a right handed batter
if coming from a right handed pitcher. It actually comes at you
like a fast ball, except that it breaks (slides) without the spin.
It's hard for a batter to pick that up and adjust.

Sooooo, you're explanation...... "sliders slide" is right on IMO.
 
Sweeper to me is an antiquated soccer position.

🤷🏽‍♂️
 
Hi all, figured I'd clear this up

Think of Sweeper as a sideways Curveball

Here's the distinction (in right handed pitcher terms)

Traditional pitch names

Curveball -
6:00 to 7:00 spin direction
Drop 10-15mph
Usually 15+ inches of movement
2700+ RPM
High Spin efficiency

Slider -
8:00 to 10:00 spin direction
Drop 5-10 mph
High variance of movement types but usually like 10 inches of total movement
2800+ RPM
Very very low spin efficiency
Has the stereotypical red dot

Cutter -
10:30 to 12:00 spin direction
Drop 3-5 ish mph
Usually just a few inches of actual movement
2300-2600 RPM
Pretty low spin efficiency

Then the hybrids:

Slurve -
7:00 to 8:00 spin direction
Drop 7-10 mph
10-15 inches of movement
2700+ RPM
Usually bad spin efficiency as it's not a great pitch
this is a tweener pitch that is dying across baseball

Sweeper
8:00 - 9:00 spin direction
Drop 15+ mph
Usually over 12 inches of horizontal movement
2800+ RPM
Better spin efficiency than a slider, lower than a curveball
This pitch blew up but it's really only effective against same handed hitters

Gyroball (Gyro-Slider) - this pitch is really just a slider with extremely low spin efficiency that just dies at the end
Drop 8-12 mph
Spinning like a bullet creating a very clear red dot
Very little "movement" based on spin, just dies late
2700+ RPM
Spin Efficiency near zero

Slutter - you'll never hear this on a broadcast for obvious reasons but it's a relatively new wave
10:00-11:00 spin direction
Usually 5 mph drop
7-10 inches of horizontal movement
2800+ RPM
This pitch is a bastard and very few pitchers can throw it because it causes a lot of wear on the arm
But Trevor Bauer been throwing one in Japan and it is GROSS.
 
Good grief…it’s the barrel, folks. Starts and ends with how the sweeper is ”barreled”….
 
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