[Misfit]

Quote: Originally Posted by heavyXBLLN

Not sure about that. I've seen Tavarez throw a four-seam fastball. He does not have much control of it. A two-seamer CAN sink, it does move, but it is not a sinker. The purpose of a sinker, different from the splitter, is to actually have the batter make contact with the ball and induce a grounder. Was there ONE ball that the Twins hit on the ground against him last night?

If Tavarez throws a 4-seamer it is a rarity and probably only when he is ahead in the count and the catcher calls for a high fastball. A sinker is just a two-seamer. It is more of a case of how the pitcher throws the ball if his two-seam will have a lot of sink on it or if it will flatten out. Pedro Martinez, for example, throws from a 3/4 delivery and his two-seam gets more left to right movement on it than sink where as Roy Halladay is more over the top and his two-seamer gets more downward movement. Whenever you see Tavarez throw a pitch that appears to sink more than his regular 2-seam it is either a change-up (which is around 84 and 86 mph) or he is just taking a little off of his fastball. A two-seamer usually sinks more when thrown at lower speeds, which is why a lot of managers/pitching coaches will tell you it is a good thing for a sinker-ball pitcher to be a little fatigued. The grip for a two-seamer and sinker are exactly the same though.

For further reference: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseba...tchingpage.pdf