Changeup

The changeup is a pitch of many names, including slowball, slow pitch, drop pitch, sinker, googlies and knuckleball. The changeup is done by pressing up and A when pitching. The ball comes in much slower, making a squiggly motion and hopefully dropping on top of the plate just under the surprised batter's swing.

In anything goes pitching style, a changeup may be thrown at any time while in slurve it can be thrown at any time as long as it is not twice in a row. Straight pitch players vary in their changeup rules, some allowing them to be thrown a limited amount while others don't allow them at all.

While the changeup is an effective pitch when used at the right time, most notably with pitchers Mike Krukow, Mike Scott, and Bert Blyleven, it should be used sparingly as it greatly reduces a pitcher's stamina.

Official Name

Because the Up+A pitch has some many user-attributed names, people don't really know what the "proper" name for it is. Well, according to the RBI Baseball Manual, this pitch has two names depending on where it lands. If the pitch crosses the plate and is called a strike, it is a knuckleball. If the pitch drops in front of the plate and is called a ball, it is a sinkerball. The sinkerball is much more effective, as the batter cannot make contact with it.