Sinker (baseball)

In baseball, a sinker or sinking fastball is a type of fastball pitch which has significant downward and horizontal movement and is known for inducing ground balls.Pitchers who use the sinker tend to rely on it heavily and do not need to change pitch speeds as much as other pitchers do because the sinking action induces weak bat contact. Other pitchers normally change pitch speeds to achieve this effect.^{[cited link refers to one analysts opinion]} The sinker is much more often used by right-handed pitchers than left-handed pitchers.

Before the 1950s, pitchers did not know what caused their pitches to sink or "hop." They regarded either ability as a "gift from heaven." Bill James cites Curt Simmons as the first pitcher to be able to throw both sinkers and rising fastballs, apparently indicating that it was not known how to make a pitch sink and how to make one hop.

Dellin Betances, Zach Britton, Chris Heston, Scott Feldman, Charlie Morton, Joel Piñeiro, Jake Westbrook, Roberto Hernández, Dallas Keuchel, Aaron Cook, Chien-Ming Wang, Tim Hudson, Mike Pelfrey, Jon Garland, Zach Miner, Brad Bergesen, Jake Arrieta, Kyle Kendrick, Chris Volstad, Jim Johnson, Rick Porcello, Ronald Belisario, Kendall Graveman, Ryan Mattheus, Sonny Gray, Felix Hernandez, Seth Maness, Jeurys Familia, Justin Masterson, Tanner Roark, and Ryan Webb are current major league players who rely heavily on the sinker.

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