That’s because “reverse screwball” isn’t really covering it. The obvious question is If curveballs are so popular, why doesn’t anybody throw a screwball if it’s the same thing only the other way? The pronation creates the “reverse” curve breaking towards same-side batters. Instead of letting your arm and wrist fall straight down after release, you actually have to turn your arm to the outside upon release (for right handers, palm facing right – for left handers, palm facing left). What makes a screwball unique is the pronation of the arm as it’s thrown. Most of its worthy practitioners are long dead. You’ll have trouble finding high quality, easily accessible footage of a screwball. Here’s a GIF of a screwball pitch in slow motion: This video shows some really good behind-the-plate shots of current Tampa Bay Rays prospect Brent Honeywell throwing screwballs in the minors. It’s a breaking / off-speed pitch hybrid that moves away from an opposite-handed batter a right-handed pitcher’s screwball breaks away from a left-handed batter. The screwball is sometimes referred to as a reverse curveball. Screwball movement: what the pitch is and what it looks like But it’s certainly not a screwballer’s game anymore. Unusual pitches from the hand of junkballers like the knuckleball, palmball, forkball and eephus are supplanted by really good fastballs, sliders, curveballs and changeups. The leash on a curiosity is short, and the leash on a superathlete who lights up a radar gun is long. Finesse pitchers can survive, but only the best of the best. Modern baseball favors velocity, spin rate, clean mechanics and specialty. Jamie Moyer, Randy Wolf, Bronson Arroyo, Paul Byrd. When play-by-play guys start dropping words like cagy, crafty or moxy. Recently the evolution of major league baseball quietly started abandoning the junkballer. There is always a mini-era in progress and it’s difficult to pinpoint it in the moment. However, pull out the perception and you’ll find a game that doesn’t look much like the original. The constant amidst a whirlwind of unpredictable variables. Relative to the world swirling around it, the game is an anchor in American history.

Left handed submarine pitchers