An MLB Sword pitch explainer - MLB Stories

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Do you know when a pitch is actually ... a sword?

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Taken from the film Benchwarmers and made popular by Pitching Ninja (Rob Friedman), swords are some of the most entertaining pitching moments in the game

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It's when a pitch is so nasty it makes a batter take a hack that looks like they are swinging a sword

Swords, explained

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Most of the time, you'll know one when you see it, like this Kodai Senga gem that forces Bryce Harper into a golf swing

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Using Statcast bat-tracking data, we can now identify swords based on more than just a gut feeling

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While those new parameters help, swords are often still super obvious ... like this amazing one

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Anybody can fall victim to a sword, from Rookies of the Year like Corbin Carroll ...

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... to probable Hall of Famers like Miguel Cabrera

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A seasoned vet like Nick Castellanos can quickly make peace with being sworded

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World Series champions are most certainly not immune

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Even Shohei Ohtani can't avoid swords (good job by Jordan Montgomery!)

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But it should be no surprise to see Ohtani throwing his own swords when on the mound

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Here's Dylan Cease, the '23 MLB swords leader, getting Yordan Alvarez with an inside four-seamer

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Blake Snell's curve had the 4th-most swords among all pitch types in '23

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Spencer Strider's slider sits at the top of that pitch-type leaderboard, and he used it to sword Mookie Betts

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Want to know more about swords? We can help with that ...

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And here's one more sick sword for the road -- click to see PitchingNinja's Sword of the Year for 2023

2023 Sword of the Year