Cutter pitches are like sinkers, except they break left or right rather than down. Mariano Rivera is the expert at cutter pitches. His cutter breaks in on a left-handed hitter. Usually lefty-righty matchups favor the batter, but not so with Mariano Rivera. All hitters fear him.
Like the sinker, its important to mix it up with a straight fastball, so the hitter wont know whats coming. Oh, hell think in that split second, it looks like a fastball, Ill swing away. He swings, the ball cuts inside, and the ball hits below the sweet spot. Theres a reason that cutter pitchers break a lot of bats. The pitch is as fast as a fastball but hitters hit it closer to the handle of the bat.
Learning Cutter Pitches
Cutter pitches are less taxing on the arm than a slider, but not by much. Its not recommended that you work too much on a cutter if youre very young. Because the pitch doesnt break as much, there is less of a snapping action when the pitch is thrown–but still, it can tax the arm. A cutter is a strike pitch, whereas a slider is usually a ball which a pitcher hopes the batter will swing at.
If the batter doesnt swing, it will look like a waste pitch, even if the pitcher meant the ball to be out of the strikezone. The trick to pitching is to make the ball look like a strike–thats really pitching 101. In addition, breaking pitches with a lot of movement can look like balls and then curve into the strikezone. The cutter is a strike pitch that may lead to contact but usually to an easy out.
