Editing Starting pitcher (section)

==Pitch selection==
Starting pitchers usually have a variety of pitches to choose from, broken into a number of categories.

*[[Fastball]]s: A pitch thrown hard (anywhere from the upper 80s to over 100&nbsp;mph) and which generally follows a mostly straight trajectory. There are a number of different types of fastballs. The [[four-seam fastball]] is the hardest thrown pitch, but also has very little movement or break to it. The [[two-seam fastball]] is slightly slower than the four-seam fastball (generally in the mid 80s to low 90s), but breaks slightly inward to the pitcher's throwing arm as well as dropping slightly (i.e., a left-handed pitcher throwing a two-seam fastball will have it tail slightly right-to-left). The movement and velocity of the [[sinker (baseball)|sinker]] is similar to that of the two-seamer, though sinkers tend to break earlier than two-seamers. The [[cut fastball]] (cutter) is similar to the two-seam fastball in velocity, but breaks to the opposite side of a pitcher's throwing arm (i.e., a right-handed pitcher will have it break right-to-left).
*Hard breaking balls: The most prominent of the hard [[breaking ball]]s is the [[Slider (baseball)|slider]]. A slider is a pitch that breaks sharply in the direction of the pitcher's arm travel (left to right for a left-handed pitcher). It travels slower than a fastball (usually in the 80s), but faster than the slower breaking balls. The other hard breaking ball, the [[split-finger fastball]] (splitter), mimics the fastball. The splitter breaks late in its flight path and downwards from the point of release, with a little bit of tailing action. The split-finger is usually thrown in the low to upper 80s, although some travel upwards of 90&nbsp;mph.
*Soft breaking balls: The most common soft breaking ball is the eponymous [[curveball]]. The curve breaks in the direction of the pitcher's arm travel from the point of release on through the entire arc of its flight. If one were to look at a clock, a straight drop curveball would be [[12-6 curve|12–6]]. A right hander with slightly more lateral break will have a curveball breaking in a 1–7 manner or with more lateral movement in a 2–8 manner. A left hander that throws a curveball with more lateral break will either have an 11–5 or 10–4 curveball. Curveballs travel from the low 60s to mid 80s in speed. The other soft breaking ball is the [[screwball]], which is essentially a reverse curveball, as it breaks in the opposite direction of the pitcher's arm travel. The screwball is a fairly rare pitch in modern baseball, due in part to a widespread belief that it causes damage to the arm. However, a 2014 ''New York Times'' investigation concluded that this belief is unfounded, and that the screwball causes no more injury than any other pitch.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/magazine/the-mystery-of-the-vanishing-screwball.html|title=The Mystery of the Vanishing Screwball|last=Schoenfeld|first=Bruce|date=2014-07-10|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-07-28|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
*Other off-speed pitches: Two other major [[off-speed pitch]]es are used by pitchers today, one far more so than others. The [[changeup]], which has variants such as the [[circle changeup]], the [[vulcan changeup]] or the [[palmball]], is a slow pitch that is thrown with the same arm motion and arm velocity of a fastball, but with a much different grip that keeps the ball from achieving the same speed; usually the changeup is 10–20&nbsp;mph slower than the pitcher's fastballs. This visual distortion from a fast arm swing and a slower pitch is used to disrupt the hitter's timing. The other major off-speed pitch is the [[knuckleball]]. The knuckleball is a very difficult pitch to master, both for the pitcher (due to its unique grip and delivery manner) and for his catcher (due to the pitch being thoroughly unpredictable in its travel).