What rank is Otani’s slider? Data reveals! MLB Magic Pitch Rankings

3rd . Sandy Alcantara (Marlins) Fast Changeup RV-25

Third place goes to Sandy Alcantara’s fast changeup. Alcantara, the ace of the Miami Marlins and the most likely candidate for the National League Young Young Award, has a quiet form and throws a nearly 100 mph 4-seam, a 2-seam, a slider around 90 mph, and a fast changeup all in equal proportions. This is a pitching style that he throws with great consistency.

All pitches are theoretically balanced in terms of the amount of change and velocity that will most easily hit batters, but this high-speed changeup is particularly exceptional. The seam shift wake (SSW) works, and it falls about gravity free fall sharply with side spin that is hard to distinguish from a 4-seam or 2-seam, resulting in a .145 batting average and a lot of swinging strikes.

2nd . Shohei Ohtani (Angels) Slider (Sweeper/Slapper) RV-28

In second place is Shohei Ohtani’s horizontal slider. The fast slider, also known as a “sweeper,” supported pitcher Ohtani this year. It has a big sideways bend, but by gripping it so that it is also a 2-seam gyro, the ball slides sideways without falling off as much as you might expect.

The Japanese horizontal slider is a specialty of Otani, Darvish, and Kenta Maeda in MLB, and Tomoyuki Sugano, Shinya Kayima, and Hiroki Tojo in NPB, but we have long known that this ball has a high index and increased its percentage.

Otani can throw a fast slider that slides sideways without falling while sliding 40 cm to the side at 85.3 mph (about 137 km/h) and nearly 140 km/h. Tomohito Ito (current Yakult pitching coach) threw a ball similar to Ohtani’s sweeper 30 years ago, and his batting average was .161.

The sweeper is a ball that doesn’t drop as much as you might think, so it tends to hit the top of the bat, which makes it more likely to fly out. Because of this, it is more susceptible to long balls than one might think, and it is not suited for situations where one does not want to hit even a sacrifice fly, so its usage is also important. Toward the end of the season, Ohtani changed his grip on his slider and realized a vertical slider, striking out left-handed batters. This vertical slider has a quality similar to that of a slider and is also a magic pitch.

1st place. Dylan Sheas (White Sox) Vertical Slider RV-36

At No. 1 is Dylan Cease’s vertical slider. The White Sox’s moustachioed daredevil, Dylan Sheas’ vertical slider ranked first in terms of quality/quantity from the standpoint of deterring runs. The White Sox’s Dylan Sease’s vertical slider was the top slider in terms of quality/quantity from the standpoint of deterring runs.

Seas’ vertical slider has topspin, which would normally cause the ball to drop more if it were left untouched, but since it is held in a 2-seam gyroscopic grip, the seam shift wake (SSW) works and the ball does not drop as much as one would expect from the spin. However, since it is held in a 2-seam gyroscopic grip, the seam shift wake (SSW) works and the ball does not fall as much as expected from the spin.

As a result, the ball has about the same free fall due to gravity as a slatter, even though it is a top-spin ball, and batters are fooled.

Seas pitched this ball with a batting average of .128, and was one pitch away from a no-hit, no-run game. Although he gave up the most walks in the league, his vertical slider was the source of his Cy Young Award-contending pitching.