cut fastball
noun
baseball
: a fastball thrown with sideways spin so that it moves laterally as it nears the plate
… his best pitches are a baffling splitter and a cut fastball that bores in on right-handed hitters.—
Rob Neyer
Rob Neyercalled also cutter
Examples of cut fastball in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Leaning mostly on a four-seamer that averaged 95.2 mph, an 81-mph curve and an 86-mph cut fastball, Paxton went 5-1 with a 3.00 ERA over nine starts in June and July, striking out 53 and walking 13 in 51 innings and yielding a .203 average and a .589 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
—Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 2 Mar. 2024
Yamamoto also threw a cut fastball, a curveball and a split-finger pitch.
—Doug Padilla, Orange County Register, 28 Feb. 2024
Last year opposing batters hit .203 against his cut fastball and .119 against the slider.
—Paul Hoynes, cleveland, 12 Sep. 2023
There were six changeups, four breaking balls, three cut fastballs, and two sinkers.
—Peter Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 29 May 2023
On the second pitch from Oakland Athletics reliever Trevor May, Rutschman launched a center-cut fastball 405 feet to right-center field to deliver the Orioles their first walk-off win of the season, 8-7.
—Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 13 Apr. 2023
The 27-year-old Florida native relied on his cut fastball 31.6% of the time last season, though batters hit .284 with a .431 slugging percentage on the pitch.
—Ryan Ford, Detroit Free Press, 9 Apr. 2023
And Pérez went back to his mix of a sinker and excellent changeup and folded in more cut fastballs to set a career high in strikeouts.
—Dallas News, 20 Feb. 2023
Arizona’s Luis Gonzalez, a lefty batter, stepped up against Rivera, the right-hander known for his signature cut fastball.
—Christian Red, Forbes, 18 Feb. 2023
Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 2 Mar. 2024
Yamamoto also threw a cut fastball, a curveball and a split-finger pitch.
—Doug Padilla, Orange County Register, 28 Feb. 2024
Last year opposing batters hit .203 against his cut fastball and .119 against the slider.
—Paul Hoynes, cleveland, 12 Sep. 2023
There were six changeups, four breaking balls, three cut fastballs, and two sinkers.
—Peter Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 29 May 2023
On the second pitch from Oakland Athletics reliever Trevor May, Rutschman launched a center-cut fastball 405 feet to right-center field to deliver the Orioles their first walk-off win of the season, 8-7.
—Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 13 Apr. 2023
The 27-year-old Florida native relied on his cut fastball 31.6% of the time last season, though batters hit .284 with a .431 slugging percentage on the pitch.
—Ryan Ford, Detroit Free Press, 9 Apr. 2023
And Pérez went back to his mix of a sinker and excellent changeup and folded in more cut fastballs to set a career high in strikeouts.
—Dallas News, 20 Feb. 2023
Arizona’s Luis Gonzalez, a lefty batter, stepped up against Rivera, the right-hander known for his signature cut fastball.
—Christian Red, Forbes, 18 Feb. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cut fastball.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Cut fastball.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cut%20fastball. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
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