In today’s world, the game of baseball is obsessed with velocity. The harder throwers get drafted higher and it is seen that pitchers are constantly tweaking their mechanics. With that, they add a few extra miles per hour. So are the days of the crafty veterans fading?  

Well, Alex Wood, a seasoned All-Star pitcher has some opinion on this trend. He believes that there’s a lost art in the game. With that, it’s important to dive into the rising fastball. Or the “velo climber”, if you may. 

Alex Wood Explains The Magic of the Rising Fastball

Imagine this: A pitcher throws in the low 90s for most of the game. They’d perhaps lull the batter into a false sense of security. And then, with a flick of the wrist or a minor adjustment in mechanics, the pitcher unleashes a flaming ball that explodes right past the hitter at 97 mph! That’s the magic of the rising fastball which Wood addressed. He said, “Guys, I can throw 90, but I’m going to sit here the whole game and just throw 88 to 91, and when you have one of the good hitters that I’m going to face… I’m gonna hit my 97… is that not possible?”  

To elaborate, he rattled off two player names – Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. And tapped into the decline of this pitching strategy.  “It’s super interesting right,” he went on, “because off the top of my head the only two people that I can… really think of… that I would see [use the rising fastball]… was Verlander used to do it… and I feel like I’ve seen uh Max Scherzer do that…”  These comments provide great food for thought. Why aren’t pitchers pitching like Verlander and Scherzer anymore?

There’s a reason could be rising fastball is a rare commodity.  Wood acknowledges that it requires great arm talent. And to follow that statement up, he shares a possible solution. 

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What Can One Do To Pitch Like Verlander or Scherzer Again? 

His words were, “You’d have to be pretty world class armed to be able to… dial down still have decent stuff and then pump It up when you want to,” Now, the constant pressure to throw hard right from a young age could easily discourage the development of key techniques such as the one he mentioned.  

Interestingly, he drew comparisons to what the situation is in the modern day games. “At this point now,” Wood says, “the velocity factor is so crazy now… if you’re a College arm that’s 88 to 90 and you sit there… all of a sudden you can pop a few [rising fastballs]… you bet as soon as you get signed to that team they’re like ‘hey we don’t want you to… throw 88 90 anymore. Does that sound tough? Could it be that THIS is the reason for increasing pitcher injuries? Well, let us know in the comments if it makes sense to “throw every pitch as hard as you can.”