CN Pitching Performance

The splitter has had a bad reputation over the last few decades.

Now it’s one of the most effective pitches in the game and the data tells you exactly why.

📊 What data shows about elite splitters:

- Spin rate: 1,377 RPM for RHP & 1,282 RPM for LHP: lowest of almost any pitch
- Spin axis: 1:45 for RHP & 9:00 for LHP varies per pitcher
- Movement: 3” of IVB & 11.3” of HB
- Velocity gap: 6–10 mph off the fastball with identical arm speed (MLB average velo is 86.2)

That last point is the whole thing. It looks like a fastball. It comes out with the same intent. Then it vanishes, dropping hard right before the plate.

When you pair that with a high-spin four-seamer that rides through the zone, hitters can’t distinguish the two until they’ve already committed. That’s not luck. That’s physics.

And unlike a changeup, you don’t have to pronate. The grip kills spin on its own. Same arm speed. Same release. Different result.

Three styles worth knowing:

Power splitter: mid-to-high 80s, tight drop. Think Ohtani, Gausman. Punishes hitters sitting on heat.

Traditional split-finger: deeper grip, slower spin, heavier tumble. Sutter, Morris. The original weapon.

Hybrid split-change: changeup pronation + splitter depth. Adds arm-side fade for another layer of deception. Can even add the kick change into this group!

Larger hands tend to produce more consistent movement (deeper grip = more leverage), but finger pressure and seam placement can get you there too.

🔑 How to throw it:

1. Ball deep between index and middle fingers, just outside the seams
2. Throw with full fastball intent, arm speed is the deception
3. Stay relaxed. Let the grip and gravity do the work.

The splitter isn’t a trick. It’s a pitch built on feel, trust, and precision…not effort.

When you execute it right, it becomes your equalizer for late dive + missed barrels. Elite hitters guessing all night.

Learn more in the splitter in the Offspeed ebook! Available now at the link in my bio or cnpitching.com ⚡️

Pretty safe to say Logan Henderson brought the filth in August 😳

Check out some of the nastiest changeups of the month!

Which one do you NEED in your arsenal?

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Our middle finger is the longest finger on our hand. It typically is the last finger to touch the ball at release.

If you have the middle finger away from the center of the ball and emphasize pressure on the inside of the finger, it’ll prevent you from creating backspin causing the ball the lift and be harder. At release, our ring finger is off the ball and just the inside of the middle finger will be left lightly spinning the ball off the inside of the finger changing the direction of spin to favor side spin. Creating a UFO like spin.

You’ll see often how the middle finger is in the center and lifts the ball. Not what we want with the CH.

Let your fingers slow down the ball!

Our grip avoids our dominant fingers like our index and middle fingers from being in command (like the fastball). When we trust the grip for our Changeup, we tend to see the fingers find a way to the inside of the ball rather than staying behind it and creating backspin and lift. That will create a high velo and flat Changeup.

I like to show guys initially in the grip to shift the middle finger to the inside of the center of the ball. Whether that’s on a lace or not, it’s whatever is comfortable to start.

The ring finger will help get that middle to the inside so we try to shift that finger closer to the center. It is much weaker and will slow the spin and force into the ball down.

The goal here is to tilt the spin axis!

Some changeups move like they’re breaking the rules of physics. More depth than their spin should allow. More fade than makes sense on paper.

That’s not luck. That’s Seam Shifted Wake and it’s one of the biggest breakthroughs in modern pitch design.

What is SSW? A baseball isn’t smooth. As it spins, those raised seams cut through the air. When they hit at the right angle, they create pressure differences that push the ball somewhere the spin alone never would.

Simple version:
Magnus = what the spin says the ball should do.
SSW = what the ball actually does when the seams grab the air just right.

Why changeups? Three reasons:

🔵 Low spin (1500–2000 rpm) gives the seams more time to interact with air instead of being blurred by high-speed rotation

🔵 Asymmetric grips like the circle change, kick change, and split-change variations create uneven airflow naturally

🔵 Fastball arm speed with reduced spin = strong turbulence on one side of the ball, every time

How we measure it With Hawk-Eye and Rapsodo Baseball Pro 3.0, we compare how a pitch is projected to move vs. how it actually moves. That gap is called axis deviation.

Elite changeups show 30 min to 1 hour of deviation, which translates to 3–8 inches of extra unexpected movement.

That’s the difference between a rollover grounder and a swing-and-miss at air.

How to train it SSW isn’t random. It’s trainable.

1️⃣ Seam orientation - small grip changes = big movement differences
2️⃣ Spin efficiency - too clean of a spin can kill the effect
3️⃣ Finger pressure - middle and ring fingers control how the seam slices air
4️⃣ Consistent axis - you want this to repeat, not be random

The next elite changeups won’t happen by accident. They’ll be engineered.

Want to go deeper? Full breakdowns in the Offspeed eBook! Only at cnpitching.com!

The fastest right hander to 2,000 strikeouts in MLB history.

2nd fastest pitcher to 2,000 strikeouts. (Games: Randy Johnson, Innings: Chris Sale)

#1 in career WHIP in MLB history. (0.9968)

#2 in career K/BB ratio in MLB history.

deGrom will be heading to Cooperstown.

Congrats on 2K, Jake!

Texas Rangers ⚾️