Shuuto
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The shuuto (シュート?) or shootball is a pitch commonly thrown by such right-handed Japanese pitchers such as Noboru Akiyama, Kenjiro Kawasaki, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Masumi Kuwata. The most renowned shuuto picher in history was Masaji Hiramatsu whose famous pitch was dubbed the razor shuuto because it seemed to "cut the air" when thrown.
The pitch is mainly designed to break down and in on right-handed batters, so as to prevent them to make good contact with the ball. It can also be thrown to left-handers to keep them off balance. Good shuuto pitchers often break the bats of right-handed hitters because they usually get jammed when trying to swing at this pitch. It could be said that the shuuto has a somewhat similar break and purpose as the screwball for a left-handed pitcher, even though the latter is also meant to be primarily thrown at right-handed batters.. The shuuto begins as a fastball, taking a straight path towards home plate.[citation needed] However, the pitcher puts a slight spin on the ball, such that as the ball's velocity decreases, and it then "rolls over" and drifts toward the batter.[citation needed] Thus, if the shuuto pitch was thrown off the outside part of the plate, it would tail back over the outside border of the strike zone. Conversely, if it was thrown on the inside part of the plate, it would move even further inside.
The shuuto is often described in English as a "reverse slider", but this is not strictly the case, as the shuuto generally has more velocity and less break than a slider. Western observers also tend to confuse the shuuto with many other types of pitches, including the two-seam fastball, the sinker, or the screwball.[citation needed] All three of these groups of pitches, in differing degrees, will move down and in towards a right handed batter when thrown, or in the opposite manner of a curveball and a slider. The shuuto is unique because it is a faster pitch with less downward break when compared to a screwball, and has less speed but more lateral break when compared to two-seam fastballs and sinking fastballs.[citation needed]
The shuuto is often confused with the gyroball, perhaps because of a well-known article by Will Carroll[1] that erroneously equated the two pitches. Although Carroll later corrected himself, the confusion persists.
The shuuto is used by a handful of American players, mainly in amateur leagues, although some argue that a variation on this pitch is also thrown by San Diego Padres pitcher Greg Maddux.[citation needed] A right-hander, Maddux often uses this shuuto-like pitch to freeze left-handed batters, as the pitch starts inside on the batters, and then breaks sharply down and inside the strike zone as the batter shies away from the ball.[citation needed]
The shuuto is mentioned often in the movie Mr. Baseball. This is the type of pitch that Tom Selleck's character is continually unable to hit, even though he is a left hand batter. The shuuto is described as "the great equalizer".
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