| Sinker | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First Seen | |
| Notable Users | |
| Pitchers | Kawakami Norifumi |
The Sinker is a breaking fastball that travels on a trajectory resembling that of a 2-seam fastball or a reversed path of a Slider. The lower the throwing arm slot of the pitcher, the more vertical movement, or sinking action, is produced. In case of a right handed pitcher and left handed batter or vice versa, the effect is especially visible due to the batter's box and the pitcher's dominant arm being opposites, as the pitch breaks away from the batter while sinking, which makes it a hard-to-hit winning shot.[1]
Grip
There are different grips can be used for the Sinker. The ball is held between the middle and ring fingers. The index finger is lined along the middle one, and the pinky finger along the ring one while the thumb supports the ball from the bottom.
One can also grips the Sinker similarly to that of a 2-seam fastball but instead of having the index and middle finger splitting apart between the seams, these fingers are held close together on one seam for the Sinker.
Users
| Pitcher | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Kawakami Norifumi | Due to hitting three batters in an inning with the use of the sinker during the Fall Tournament of his freshman year, Kawakami stopped using the breaking ball.[2] He decided to use it again a year after, seeing Sawamura and Furuya's fast growth. | (see infobox) |
| Wakabayashi Gou | Wakabayashi winged the breaking ball, adding it to his repertoire a day before Ouya's quarter-finals match during the Fall tournament.[3] He used it against Miyuki and caught Seidou's fourth batter off-guard. | 
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