Horizontal and vertical break

Horizontal and Vertical Break

If you’ve been to an MLB game recently, you may have noticed that stadiums have started to display the horizontal and vertical break of a pitch on the scoreboard, or surrounding video boards. 

While this concept may seem simple, there are some important things to know when it comes to understanding horizontal and vertical break. 

Definitions

Vertical break simply refers to the amount a pitch deviates from the expected trajectory of the pitch, caused by the spin of the baseball. Horizontal break refers to the amount a pitch breaks right or left, based on the spin of the baseball

Why are Horizontal and Vertical Break Important?

In a nutshell, horizontal and vertical break are important because, most times, they indicate whether a pitch will perform well against a hitter or not. Other factors come into play, like arm slot, the sequence in which the pitch is thrown, and pitch velocity. Regardless of these factors, horizontal and vertical break are the easiest ways to tell how a pitch will perform against hitters. 

How Can These Numbers be Applied?

It’s already been established that horizontal and vertical break refer to how the pitch deviates from how it’s expected to move, but how can these numbers be applied? These numbers are most revealing to judge fastballs, so we’ll apply them accordingly. 

For a traditional 4-seam fastball, pitchers are looking for as much vertical break as possible. If a pitcher is able to achieve this, it’s called ‘ride’. Having a fastball that rides is the most common and effective fastball. Achieving a fastball with ride requires the vertical break to be above 16 inches, with the MLB average being 16.5 inches. This is possible for some pronators, but it’s more common amongst supinators. It is also most common among pitchers with a high arm-slot, as opposed to a lower one. Horizontal break depends on the pitcher’s arm slot and tendencies, but it’s not as important for a fastball as it is for other pitches; however, a fastball with as much ride as possible, partnered with a smaller amount of horizontal break is more likely to be effective. 

This fastball from Jack Leiter is a good example of a ride fastball with little horizontal break. Leiter averages around 17 inches of vertical break and 6.5 inches of horizontal break.

If a pitcher struggles to create ride on their fastball, they are most likely either a pronator, a pitcher who throws from a lower arm-slot, or some combination of the two. These types of pitchers will be more effective if they adopt a sinker as their main fastball. Sinkers will have a lower amount of vertical break, adopting a downward movement pattern. Effective vertical break for a sinker in the MLB will sit somewhere below 8 inches, with the average being 7.6 inches of vertical break. Horizontal break is important for sinkers, so that pitchers can miss the barrel of the bat; this number should be somewhere above 15 inches, with the MLB average being 16.6 inches. 

Here’s a great example of a great sinker from JT Ginn. His sinker averages about 5 inches of vertical break and about 15 inches of horizontal break.

What is a Deadzone Fastball?

The term deadzone is usually applied to a fastball when the horizontal and vertical break numbers are similar or the same. This fastball is usually the most hittable, because the human brain expects to see a fastball that has equal break both vertically and horizontally. 

It is best that a pitcher avoids throwing a deadzone fastball, but there are some exceptions. Paul Skenes is a good example of an exception. Skenes averages around 10 inches of vertical break on his fastball, with around 15 inches of horizontal break. The average numbers aren’t considered deadzone, but they are not considered ideal for a 4-seam fastball. It’s also common for a pitcher’s numbers to fluctuate throughout the course of an outing or season. Skenes is able to pitch effectively with his fastball because of its elite velocity.