Chances are, if you are reading this, you go to Brandeis. And if you go to Brandeis, well, let’s just say you may not know a lot about sports. The stereotypical Deisian isn’t exactly a rabid sports fan. And that’s fine! To attend Brandeis, you obviously don’t need to be interested in sports or even have a basic understanding of how they work (with the possible exception of quadball). However, since coming here last August, there have been numerous situations here on campus where I’ve been sitting with people and, whether it be just over the course of normal conversation or because I was watching a football or baseball game on my phone, they would ask about something going on. I realized that many people are curious about sports but may not go out of their way to seek out information. Thus, an idea was formed. There will be a recurring installment in The Hoot where I will dive into a specific topic in sports. It could be about a rule, a phrase, or anything else pertinent to sports knowledge. That’s how “So you think you know ball?” was born.

We’ll use the following scale to determine the difficulty level of the article of the week: 

DIT (Deisian in Training) → beginner

Ready for Fenway, Gillette, or the Garden → intermediate

Ballknower → advanced

I’m thinking of something like the owl on the scale with the above prompts (this one somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd) 

So without further ado, here is our first installation: 

What is a fastball in baseball?

Whether it be 12-year-old little leaguers in Youngstown, Ohio, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (yes, that is their name) of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, or the Boston Red Sox, the fastball is the most commonly thrown pitch in baseball. But what is a fastball? How does it move (in terms of speed and shape)? How is it differentiated from different types of pitches that pitchers deploy? And which pitchers in today’s game sport the best fastballs? In this first installment of “So You Think You Know Ball,” we’ll delve into this topic.

Before we answer these questions, it is important to note that there is technically no pitch in baseball characterized as a fastball. When one calls a pitch a fastball, they often mean a four-seam fastball. But there are other types of fastballs prevalent in modern baseball that act quite differently. There’s also the two-seam or sinking fastball, dubbed a sinker, and the cut-fastball, or cutter. Each of these three pitches has distinct movement profiles and is very different despite all sporting the fastball moniker. 

The Four-Seamer

Though not as dominant as it once was, the four-seam fastball is still the most used pitch in baseball. Nearly every pitcher throws one. In Major League Baseball today, the average velocity of a four-seamer is 94 miles per hour, with the fastest one coming in at 104.5 mph. It tends to move relatively straight, though it varies from pitcher to pitcher. A good four-seamer gives the illusion of almost rising out of the pitcher’s hand and almost climbing as it reaches the hitter. Typically, a pitcher has a greater ability to control a four-seamer, and thus it is very commonly thrown when a pitcher needs to throw a strike. Compare that with a slider or curveball, which are more often thrown to induce a swing and miss from the hitter. 

Today, there are many elite four-seam fastballs in Major League Baseball. Some of the best come from fireballers like Pittsburgh Pirates’ superstar Paul Skenes, Cincinnati Reds’ phenom Hunter Greene, and Texas Rangers’ veteran Jacob deGrom. These guys all throw their four-seamers in the upper 90s and often break 100 mph. But velocity isn’t everything. Dodgers’ relief pitcher Alex Vesia’s fastball averages less than 93 mph, and yet, due to the rising effect that hitters perceive, it is one of the most dominant pitches in the game.

The Sinker

The sinker has never been used less in Major League Baseball, but with this scarcity in usage has come an increase in effectiveness. There is no pitch in baseball better at getting the batter to hit the ball on the ground, which is beneficial, as it greatly decreases the chances of the batter doing anything better than hitting a single. Sinkers are generally, though not always, slightly slower than their four-seam counterparts. A sinker, as its name implies, moves in a downward sinking motion, while tailing off towards the pitcher’s arm side. For instance, a sinker thrown by a right hand pitcher will move down and tail to the right. A good sinker gets in on the hands of the hitter. For that reason, a sinker is more effective against hitters of the same handedness (righty on righty). 

Two of the best sinkers among current players come from two of baseball’s best pitchers. The Philadelphia Phillies’ Christopher Sanchez has a fantastic sinker that enables him to generate tons of groundball outs. In 2025, Garrett Crochet of the Red Sox debuted his revamped sinker to get soft contact and swings and misses from the hitters.

The Cutter

Though the least thrown of the three, the cutter serves a crucial purpose among all fastballs: it is really good at getting out batters of the opposite handedness. Like a sinker, the cutter moves as its name suggests; that is, cutting in a tight motion, inwards towards the direction of the pitcher’s glove (a right-handed pitcher’s cutter will move left). Averaging just over 89 miles per hour, it is generally significantly slower than the other two kinds of fastballs. But that doesn’t mean all cutters are slow. Cleveland Guardians’ reliever Emmanuel Clase (who will likely never play professionally again after he gambled on his own games) averaged over 100 mph on his cutter for years. At his best, in 2024, Clase parlayed his electric cutter into one of the greatest relief pitcher seasons in modern history. 

The Takeaway

All three fastballs are extremely important in today’s game. More than ever, pitchers are opting to deploy all three fastball varieties; indeed, in 2025, almost a quarter of all major league pitchers threw a sinker, cutter, and a four-seam. On their own, each type of fastball can be good, but together they create a fearsome trio for today’s hitter. 

 

Image above by: http://www.lokeshdhakar.com/