Diamond no Ace Wiki
Split-finger fastball

First Seen
Manga Act I - Chapter 48
Anime S1 - Episode 17
Notable Users
Pitchers Hongou Masamune

Furuya Satoru
Sawamura Eijun

The Split-finger fastball, also known as the Splitter is a pitch that became prevalent at the end of the 20th Century. The Splitter behaves like a Straight fastball on its way to the plate, making it looks deceptively similar to a Fastball but breaks down near the plate which can effectively induce swing and misses.

The Splitter is especially effective when used in combination with a good Fastball. Being able to locate the Fastball inside the Strike Zone's corners will force batters to chase the Splitter that comes after the Fastball as it is very difficult for the batter to differentiate between the 2 due to its somewhat comparable velocity of a Fastball.

Grip

The Splitter is gripped very similarly to the Forkball but not as tight or deep between the fingers. The grip allows the pitcher to both inject a good amount of speed on the pitch, unlike the Forkball, and also impart downward spin on the ball, causing the ball to break down at the plate.

Splitter Grip


Users

Pitcher Description Image
Hongou Masamune Hongou's winning shot. Mixing it regularly with his powerful Fastball makes it a devastating weapon for the pitcher. Hongou's Splitter breaks close at the plate at a very high speed making it extremely difficult to read and differentiate it from his fastball.
Hongou splitter
Furuya Satoru Furuya's first learnt breaking pitch. Having a powerful fastball as the base, this pitch further increase the effectiveness of his fastball. However, Miyuki also said that the break of Furuya's splitter is so inconsistent making it very difficult to catch.[1]
Furuya Splitter-0
Sawamura Eijun The Splitter is one of the breaking pitches within Sawamura's Numbers. However, this pitch has been unstable up to the Hakuryu's match and was restricted by Miyuki.[2]

After trying to come up with a way to force Ichidaisan batters to swing at pitches they wouldn't otherwise attempt, Sawamura arrived at a modified Splitter grip that would makes his Splitter both has higher velocity as well as arm side movement at the plate, breaking away from a right handed batter. The new pitch was called the No. 9, Revised Splitter, and it has the behaviors of both a Splitter and a 2-seamer.[3]

Splitter grip
Sawamura Splitter Kai

Reference

  1. S1 - Episode 25
  2. Act II - Chapter 73
  3. Act II - Chapter 225