During our morning workout, I was able to catch up with six of the eight National pitchers for a quick tour of their stuff. A look at the grip on the ball and the position of the hand helps us get a feel for the intended action of each pitch.
Corey Zangari
4-seamer across the horseshoe
2-seamer with width right down the tracks
Fingers out in front of the ball, across the short end of the horseshoe
Another classic circle change, note the 2-seam look
Beau Burrows
Standard 4-seamer
2-seamer a little inside the tracks
CB right along the edge of the horseshoe with the thumb opposite
CH with thumb under two middle fingers
Austin Riley
4-seamer across the horseshoe
2-seamer along the tracks
Spiked CB, fingers out front along far edge of the horseshoe
Interesting SL grip, just into top corner of horseshoe
Another combo of circle and pitchfork CH
Justin Hooper
4-seamer, he’s another guy that makes the ball look small
2-seamer gripped on outside edges of tracks
Fingers out front on CB, thumb up high on back of ball
SL grip same as CB, orientation of hand upon release changes
CH falls off last two fingers of hand
Sati Santa Cruz
4-seamer with fingers close together across horseshoe
2-seamer right down the tracks
SL just along the edge of the horseshoe
Fingers get on the front of the ball with the CB
Circle CH with 4-seam look
Cole McKay
4-seamer
4-seam CH with kind of a pitchfork look
2-seamer down the tracks, thumb a little offset to arm side
He varies looks with CH, 2-seamer shown here
CB down edge of horseshoe, fingers getting to the front
Anthony Molina
4-seamer with ball in fingertips
A unique 2-seamer, offset on a diagonal
Fingers out front on CB, going up the edge of the horseshoe
SL is more down the tracks with palm more behind the ball
Elements of both circle and pitchfork CH
Kyle Molnar
4-seamer with width out past seam
Right down the tracks with the 2-seamer
Interesting CB grip with wide fingers across the tracks, thumb and middle finger set the equator
More traditional SL look going down the edge of the horseshoe
Think he turns this circle CH over?