Professional Practitioners
The New York Yankees' closer Mariano Rivera, one of the foremost practitioners of the cutter, made the pitch famous, though the pitch itself has been around since at least the 1950s.
When the cut fastball is working correctly, mainly against opposite-handed batters (e.g., a right-handed pitcher facing a left-handed hitter), the pitch can crack and split a hitter's bat, hence the pitch's occasional nickname of "the buzzsaw." Ryan Klesko, then of the Atlanta Braves, broke three bats in a single plate appearance during the 1999 World Series while facing Mariano Rivera. A few switch hitters have even been known to bat right-handed against the right-handed Rivera (the "wrong" side; switch hitters generally bat from the side of home plate opposite to the pitcher's throwing hand).
In 2011, Dan Haren led all major league starting pitchers with nearly 48% of his pitches classified by PITCHf/x as cutters. Roy Halladay was close behind at 45%. Other pitchers who rely heavily on a cut fastball include James Shields, Josh Tomlin, Jaime Garcia, and Andy Pettitte.
Read more about this topic: Cutter (baseball)
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