Tag: splitter
Year of the splitter? Once a dark art, the pitch is primed to take over baseball
By Zack Meisel, Cody Stavenhagen and Stephen J. Nesbitt
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — A decade ago, on a dusty baseball diamond in Puerto Rico, a veteran pitcher shared with Fernando Cruz the secrets of throwing a splitter, a pitch treated like a black-market product, a dark art best learned in the shadows and deployed at one’s own risk.
Cruz was a converted infielder pitching in winter ball back home and trying to catch on with a major league organization. He couldn’t