Changeup

Article summary

A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball, but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed coupled with its deceptive delivery is meant to confuse the batter's timing. It is meant to be thrown with the same biomechanics as a fastball, but further back in the hand, which makes it release from the hand slower while still retaining the look of a fastball. A changeup is generally thrown to be slower than a fastball. If thrown correctly, the changeup will confuse the batter because the human eye cannot discern that the ball is coming significantly slower until it is around from the plate. For example, a batter swings at the oncoming ball as if it were a fastball, but instead the ball is coming in at —this means they will swing too early to hit the ball well (also known as being "way out in front"). Other names include a change-of-pace or a change. In addition, before at least the second half of the twentieth century, the term "slow ball" was used to denote pitches that were not a fastball or breaking ball, which almost always meant a type of changeup. Therefore, the terms slow ball and changeup could be used interchangeably.…

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