I've seen them all and believe the hardest off speed pitch to hit is a good knuckle, but a fastball at the chest is pretty hard too simply because it looks so good but its so hard to catch up to.
2006-08-15 07:39:08 · 24 answers · asked by el 2 in Sports ➔ Baseball
A Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens FAST BALL!
2006-08-15 07:44:22 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The knuckleball is probably the hardest to hit, if it's thrown perfectly. Anything short of perfect, and it's like hitting a ball that is pitched underhand.
Besides that pitch, which very few can throw well, the cut fastball is probably the toughest. It comes in with the speed of a Fastball, maybe a few mph slower...and right at the last second, it moves either in on the batter, or away from the batter...depending on where the pitcher is intending it to move.
Mariano Rivera is the best at this pitch...he basically throws 1 pitch, 5 different ways...but they are all fastballs. But he has had success with it for 10 consecutive years...throwing mostly cutters.
A slider or curveball is a tough pitch...but good hitters can read the spin of the ball and adjust to it. A change up is great...but usually only VERY tough to hit when the pitcher throwing it, has a hard FB to go with it. If you throw like Johan Santana, then yes, the change up is tough to hit...because he throws 98 mph.
But the cutter is down right unhittable, even when hitters know it's coming (case in point, Rivera)
2006-08-15 08:43:51 · answer #2 · answered by brianwerner1313 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I feel like I could be a good source for this answer. I played a couple years of minor league ball. By far the hardest pitch to hit is a fastball, which then sets up ever other pitch on the planet(with the exception of a knuckle). Ask yourself this question, have you ever heard of a kid getting drafted from a great slider,curveball, change-up, not really. Now a kid with good velocity say 88-90 that has a good secondary pitch might get selected. Every good hitter has to be looking fastball and adjust to offspeed pitches. That is why it is so important to have good bat speed, so if you recoginze the pitch not to be a fastball you can make an adjustment and still handle offspeed pitches.
2006-08-15 08:21:15 · answer #3 · answered by Josh M 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A good change-up after a good fastball. I say this because the change-up is supposed to give the same arm speed and motion as a fastball but much slower speed and some type of break to it (hopefully). A knuckleball, on the other hand, would be the hardest pitch to predict where it is going to go because there is no way to give a definite path, but it isn't the hardest pitch to hit because it is coming at a much slower speed and that allows you to wait longer and swing later.
2006-08-15 14:04:32 · answer #4 · answered by fsupremed 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Definitely a fastball up is a tough pitch to hit but i believe that the best pitch in baseball is still the change-up. A pitcher with an average fastball and a good change-up is going to get a ton more batters out than a pitcher with just a great fastball. Hitters can always catch-up to a fastball with timing, but a change-up mixes up that timing.
2006-08-15 07:54:22 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The pitch that first comes to mind is the knuckleball. If it is a good one, it is impossible to hit, however, if it's a bad one then it can be the easiest pitch to hit. A fastball from Randy Johnson, probably back in the mullet days, is definitely one of the toughest to hit.
2006-08-15 11:05:30 · answer #6 · answered by Tyler M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The hardest pitch to hit is a knuckle ball.
There is so little spin on a knuckle ball, that the ball has a tremendous amount of movement.
This makes it really hard for the batter to hit, a knuckle ball.
2006-08-15 08:32:58 · answer #7 · answered by Kipper 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Knuckle Ball
2006-08-15 08:22:51 · answer #8 · answered by justme 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Knuckler is the hardest to hit. A good chest high fast ball can be hit by waitng on the pitch and swinging a behind it(per Hawk Harrelson)
2006-08-15 07:58:31 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Something that throws off the hitter really that makes him unbalanced like the good combination of a fastball and then a changeup. but really a really fast fastball will usually get em that is how billy wagner has been able to make his money over the years and now there is brandon lidge who is pretty good.
2006-08-15 08:13:02 · answer #10 · answered by Lucas C 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it all depends on the pitch sequence becuase for example a 95 mph fastball after a 65 mph change or curveball is hard to hit....or the other way around
2006-08-15 08:29:54 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋