A forkball is one of the rarer pitches, but one that can be a powerful addition to a pitcher’s arsenal. Considered a type of change-up, the pitcher throws a forkball by first setting up their grip in a specific way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To throw a forkball, a pitcher grips the baseball by spreading his index and middle finger very wide apart and jamming the ball into the space between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike the splitter, which has a similarly spread grip, the forkball is a slower pitch, closer to a change-up, as a result of the deeper grip. The grip also gives the forkball more downward motion and break, almost similar to a knuckleball<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Forkballs are off-speed pitches, so they can be used to get hitters out, similar to a change-up, or to otherwise throw off a hitter’s timing during important pitches in an at bat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, MLB uses Statcast’s pitch arsenal data to calculate how many pitchers throw a forkball and how many they throw. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is an example of Robert Coello throwing a forkball<\/p>\n\n\n\n