Talk:Sinker (pitch)

Sinker Pitchers
Please do not include every pitcher who throws a sinkers as there are countless. Please only include pitchers who have completed some significant achievement.

Some of these are also now outdated, such as Wang and Zambrano. Please add pitchers of prominence from today, such as Arrieta.

Dubious
The line between sinker and two-seamer is fuzzy, but doesn't it seem odd to refer to the sinker here as a two-seamer when there already is a whole page dedicated to the latter? As I best understand it, the main difference between the two-seamer and the sinker is its purpose. Whereas the two-seam fastball is often a supplementary pitch to a normal four-seam fastball, used as part of a broad repertoire, the sinker tends to be the "go-to" pitch for most of its users, a pitch designed to get ground balls. A clearer differentiation is needed, I think, on each of these pages. -- Jprg1966  (talk)  19:02, 19 June 2012 (UTC)

Sinker / Hard Sinker / Sinking Fastball
Yes the line is fuzzy, but the differentiation (among the college pitchers I've talked to) is actually the reverse of the way Jprg1966 describes. That is, a pitcher that relies solely on his sinker tends to throw it harder than someone who uses his sinker as a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) pitch. So imagine two pitchers that each throw a four-seam fastball at 91 MPH. If one of them is primarily a "sinkerball" pitcher, he will throw his sinker at about 89 MPH (and refer to the pitch as a "hard sinker" or "sinking fastball"). If the other pitcher only uses the sinker occasionally, he will throw it more slowly (probably about 86 MPH) to also benefit from the change of speed, but it will also be somewhat less accurate than the sinker thrown by the "sinkerballer".

I'm not trying to one-up anyone. Just agreeing with Jprg1966 that the current article isn't accurate. Dreslough (talk) 02:26, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * I disagree, I disagree with jprg1966 aswell that it comes down to usage. Most of the time, a sinker and 2 seamer is the same pitch, no pitcher throws a 2 seamer and a sinker.  Statcast and Baseball Savant, ie the MLB with their advanced cameras and radars, does not make a distinction between the two, they are all sinkers.  You could also argue that between the two pitches, a 2 seamer has more horizontal movement, and a sinker more vertical, I don't really make that distinction.  I would argue that sinker and 2 seamer are just interchangeable words for the same thing. Wozrop (talk) 12:45, 10 February 2024 (UTC)

Randy Jones?
Seems a crime to cover this topic and not mention him. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.110.70.146 (talk) 02:36, 13 August 2014 (UTC)

Differences with 2-Seam Fastball
What's the differences between this pitch and the 2-Seam Fastball? --BigMac1212 (talk) 00:30, 30 May 2016 (UTC)
 * It's the same pitch. Enigmamsg 20:07, 2 October 2018 (UTC)