In baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, a sinker (also known as "the drop ball", due to its downward break at the plate), is a type of fastball

Fastball

The fastball is the most common type of pitch in baseball. Some "power pitchers," such as Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, have thrown it at speeds of 95–106 mph and up to 108.1 mph , relying purely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit...

 pitch

Pitch (baseball)

In baseball, a pitch is the act of throwing a baseball toward home plate to start a play. The term comes from the Knickerbocker Rules. Originally, the ball had to be literally "pitched" underhand, as with pitching horseshoes. Overhand throwing was not allowed until 1884.The biomechanics of...

 which has significant downward and horizontal movement. The sinker is known for inducing a lot of ground balls. Pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

s who use the sinker tend to rely on it heavily and do not need to change pitch speeds as much as other pitchers do because the sinking action induces weak bat contact. Other pitchers normally change pitch speeds to achieve this effect.

History

Before the 1950s, pitchers did not know what caused their pitches to sink or "hop." They regarded either ability as a "gift from heaven." Bill James

Bill James

George William “Bill” James is a baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics...

 cites Curt Simmons

Curt Simmons

Curtis Thomas "Curt" Simmons is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1947–50 and 1952-67. With right-hander Robin Roberts, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Simmons was one of the twin anchors of the starting rotation of the "Whiz Kids", the Philadelphia Phillies' ...

 as the first pitcher to be able to throw both sinkers and rising fastballs, apparently indicating that it was now known how to make a pitch sink and how to make one hop.

Current Major League Pitchers

Scott Feldman, Brandon Webb

Brandon Webb

Brandon Tyler Webb is a Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the 2006 National League Cy Young Award winner.-High school:Webb attended Paul G...

, Joel Piñeiro

Joel Piñeiro

Joel Alberto Piñeiro is a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball starting pitcher. He is 6'1" tall and weighs 200 pounds. He is right-handed and made his major league debut on August 8, .-Career:...

, Carlos Zambrano

Carlos Zambrano

Carlos Alberto Zambrano is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher with the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball. Zambrano, who stands 6' 5" and weighs 260 pounds, was signed by the Cubs as a free agent in 1997 and made his debut in 2001...

, Jake Westbrook

Jake Westbrook

Jacob Cauthen "Jake" Westbrook is an American Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher currently with the St. Louis Cardinals. He is known as a sinker ball pitcher and has also hit a grand slam home run....

, Derek Lowe

Derek Lowe

Derek Christopher Lowe is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. He throws and bats right-handed. He is 6'6" and 230 pounds.-Early years:...

, Fausto Carmona

Fausto Carmona

Fausto C. Carmona is a right-handed pitcher for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball. Carmona made his major league debut with the Indians on April 15, 2006...

, Aaron Cook, Chien-Ming Wang

Chien-Ming Wang

Chien-Ming Wang is a Taiwanese Major League Baseball pitcher. He was initially signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Yankees for the 2000 season, and played for the Staten Island Yankees...

, Tim Hudson

Tim Hudson

Timothy Adam Hudson is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who plays for the Atlanta Braves. Hudson began his major league career with the Oakland Athletics and played his last two years of college eligibility at Auburn University...

, Mike Pelfrey, Roy Halladay

Roy Halladay

Harry Leroy "Roy" Halladay III , nicknamed "Doc", is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies...

, Jon Garland

Jon Garland

Jon Steven Garland is a right-handed starting pitcher, who is currently a free agent.-High school career:At John F...

, Zach Miner

Zach Miner

Zachary Charles Miner is a Major League Baseball pitcher currently in the Kansas City Royals organization. He bats and throws right-handed.-Atlanta Braves:...

, Brad Bergesen, Nick Blackburn

Nick Blackburn

Robert Nicholas Blackburn is a Major League Baseball pitcher in the Minnesota Twins system. He graduated from Del City High School in Del City, Oklahoma. He attended Seminole State College. The 6-4, 227 pound right-hander was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 34th round of the...

, Carlos Silva, Rick Porcello

Rick Porcello

Frederick Alfred "Rick" Porcello III is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball....

, Kyle Kendrick

Kyle Kendrick

Kyle Rodney Kendrick is a relief pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball.-High school:...

, Chris Volstad

Chris Volstad

Christopher Kenneth Volstad is a right-handed pitcher for the Miami Marlins. He is 6 foot 8 inches and 225 pounds, and is a 2005 graduate of Palm Beach Gardens High School....

, Michael Crotta

Michael Crotta

Michael John Crotta is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball....

, Justin Masterson

Justin Masterson

Justin Daniel Masterson is a right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians. Masterson was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the second round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft. Masterson was rated as the 64th-best prospect going into that year's draft by...

, and Charlie Morton

Charlie Morton (pitcher)

Charles A. Morton is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He stands at 6'5" and weighs in at about 230 lbs. He is a right-hander.-Professional career:...

 are current major league players who rely heavily on the sinker. Some power pitchers such as Zack Greinke

Zack Greinke

Donald Zackary "Zack" Greinke is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers. Greinke won the American League Cy Young Award in 2009 with the Kansas City Royals.-High school & minor leagues:Greinke was born in Orlando, Florida...

 and Stephen Strasburg

Stephen Strasburg

Stephen James Strasburg is a right-handed pitcher for the Washington Nationals, who selected him with the first pick in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft...

 use sinkers as secondary pitches.

Throwing mechanics

One method of throwing the sinker is to simply grip the baseball along the two seams and throw it similar to a fastball. Some pitchers use a downward motion on their wrist when throwing it. This causes a sharper sink, but also has a greater risk of a wild pitch. This wrist movement is also called pronation.

However, many sinker ball pitchers today turn the inside of the ball over just before releasing the ball, combine with slightly increasing the pressure on the ball with the index finger ("press inside") which creates a tilted sidespin motion that causes horizontal movements.

Effects on the batter

The sinker drops 5 to 10 inches more than a typical fastball which causes batters to hit ground balls more often than other breaking balls, mostly due to the tilted backspin on the ball. Horizontal movement also occurs when sinkers are thrown.

Notable sinkerballers

• Nick Blackburn
  Nick Blackburn
  Robert Nicholas Blackburn is a Major League Baseball pitcher in the Minnesota Twins system. He graduated from Del City High School in Del City, Oklahoma. He attended Seminole State College. The 6-4, 227 pound right-hander was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 34th round of the...
  
  
• Kevin Brown
• Wally Bunker
  Wally Bunker
  Wallace Edward Bunker is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. A right-hander, Bunker pitched for the Baltimore Orioles from to and Kansas City Royals from to .-Biography:...
  
  
• Shawn Camp
  Shawn Camp
  Shawn Anthony Camp is an American professional baseball pitcher. Camp stands at 6'0" tall and weighs 200 pounds. He throws and bats right-handed and was born in Fairfax, Virginia.-Early career:...
  
  
• Fausto Carmona
  Fausto Carmona
  Fausto C. Carmona is a right-handed pitcher for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball. Carmona made his major league debut with the Indians on April 15, 2006...
  
  
• Aaron Cook
• Jeff Karstens
• Scott Downs
  Scott Downs
  Scott Jeremy Downs is an American professional baseball relief pitcher with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Major League Baseball. He has previously played for the Chicago Cubs, Montreal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays...
  
  
• Scott Feldman
  Scott Feldman
  Scott Feldman was a news anchor for News 12 Long Island for 22 years.-Early life:Feldman was born in St. Louis, Missouri, graduated from the University of Denver in 1971. He served in the U.S. Army Reserves and National Guard....
  
  
• Jon Garland
  Jon Garland
  Jon Steven Garland is a right-handed starting pitcher, who is currently a free agent.-High school career:At John F...
  
  
• Dan Haren
  Dan Haren
  Daniel John Haren is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.- High-school and college career :...
  
  
• Orel Hershiser
  Orel Hershiser
  Orel Leonard Hershiser IV is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He is currently an analyst for Baseball Tonight and Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN and a professional poker player for...
  
  
• Luke Hochevar
  Luke Hochevar
  Luke Anthony Hochevar is an American professional baseball starting pitcher for the Kansas City Royals organization of Major League Baseball. He is an alumnus of the University of Tennessee.He throws and bats right-handed.-High school:...
  
  
• Tim Hudson
  Tim Hudson
  Timothy Adam Hudson is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who plays for the Atlanta Braves. Hudson began his major league career with the Oakland Athletics and played his last two years of college eligibility at Auburn University...
  
  
• Tommy John
  Tommy John
  Thomas Edward John Jr. is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball whose 288 career victories rank as the seventh highest total among left-handers in major league history...
  
  
• Randy Jones
• Kyle Kendrick
  Kyle Kendrick
  Kyle Rodney Kendrick is a relief pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball.-High school:...
  
  
• Aaron Laffey
  Aaron Laffey
  Aaron Steven Laffey is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. He made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians in .-Cleveland Indians:...
  
  
• Brandon League
  Brandon League
  Brandon Paul League is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Seattle Mariners. He is married with three children. He resides in Honolulu, and is hapa Yonsei. His maternal great-grandparents were born and raised in Fukuoka prefecture on Kyushu Island in Japan...
  
  
• Derek Lowe
  Derek Lowe
  Derek Christopher Lowe is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. He throws and bats right-handed. He is 6'6" and 230 pounds.-Early years:...
  
  
• Jason Marquis
  Jason Marquis
  Jason Scott Marquis is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He previously pitched for the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks....
  
  
• Justin Masterson
  Justin Masterson
  Justin Daniel Masterson is a right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians. Masterson was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the second round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft. Masterson was rated as the 64th-best prospect going into that year's draft by...
  
  
• Mike Pelfrey
• Joel Pineiro
  Joel Piñeiro
  Joel Alberto Piñeiro is a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball starting pitcher. He is 6'1" tall and weighs 200 pounds. He is right-handed and made his major league debut on August 8, .-Career:...
  
  
• Lee Pollard
  Lee Pollard
  Lee Gordon Pollard is an English cricketer. Pollard is a right-handed batsman who bowls right-arm medium pace. He was born at Kettering, Northamptonshire....
  
  
• Rick Porcello
  Rick Porcello
  Frederick Alfred "Rick" Porcello III is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball....
  
  
• Carlos Silva
• Joe Smith
• Mike Timlin
  Mike Timlin
  -Early life:Timlin was born in Midland, Texas to Jerome Francis Timlin Sr. and Nancy Sharon Beyer. Timlin graduated from Midland High School in Midland, Texas. He then attended and pitched at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta.-Baseball career...
  
  
• Chien-Ming Wang
  Chien-Ming Wang
  Chien-Ming Wang is a Taiwanese Major League Baseball pitcher. He was initially signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Yankees for the 2000 season, and played for the Staten Island Yankees...
  
  
• Brandon Webb
  Brandon Webb
  Brandon Tyler Webb is a Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the 2006 National League Cy Young Award winner.-High school:Webb attended Paul G...
  
  
• Randy Wells
  Randy Wells
  Randy David Wells is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs.Wells was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 38th Round of the 2002 amateur entry draft as a catcher. He spent his career in the Chicago Cubs farm system from to before being claimed in the Rule 5 Draft by the Toronto...
  
  
• Jake Westbrook
  Jake Westbrook
  Jacob Cauthen "Jake" Westbrook is an American Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher currently with the St. Louis Cardinals. He is known as a sinker ball pitcher and has also hit a grand slam home run....
  
  
• Kerry Wood
  Kerry Wood
  Kerry Lee Wood is a National Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Wood recorded over 200 strikeouts in four out of his first five seasons, with a high of 266 in 2003....
  
  
• Carlos Zambrano
  Carlos Zambrano
  Carlos Alberto Zambrano is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher with the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball. Zambrano, who stands 6' 5" and weighs 260 pounds, was signed by the Cubs as a free agent in 1997 and made his debut in 2001...
  
  
• Roy Halladay
  Roy Halladay
  Harry Leroy "Roy" Halladay III , nicknamed "Doc", is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies...
  
  
• Charlie Morton
  Charlie Morton (pitcher)
  Charles A. Morton is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He stands at 6'5" and weighs in at about 230 lbs. He is a right-hander.-Professional career:...
  
  
• Huston Street
  Huston Street
  Huston Lowell Street is an American baseball relief pitcher for the Colorado Rockies. His father is former University of Texas quarterback James Street, and his brother Juston Street is currently a pitcher for the minor league Vancouver Canadians....