Soon, New York Mets fans and the baseball world will get a firsthand look at Kodai Senga's famous "ghost forkball." This is a pitch that Senga has built a career on. It comes out of his hand looking like a fastball and then drops off the table right before it reaches home plate.
It's quite an effective pitch. It's successful because of Senga's ability to tunnel. If you're unfamiliar with tunneling, it's when a pitcher tries to make every pitch look the same coming out of their hand. Because there is no horizontal spin or anything on his "ghost forkball," batters think it's a fastball until it's too late.
When looking at Senga's grip, you can see his index finger resting on the top seam. He splits his index and middle finger pretty far to let his middle finger rest on the underside seam of the ball. Where he's resting his fingers on the seams gives him control.
If you have never pitched before, this may look like it hurts, and it probably did at first for Kodai Senga. You get used to it quickly, though. Some pitch grips can look pretty insane, and every pitcher is different. What works for Senga may not work for his New York Mets teammate Justin Verlander, and that's the beauty of pitching.
"That looks extremely uncomfortable" one fan tweeted.
"Those saying he'll get injured don't know ball" said another fan.
Besides the occasional blister, pitchers are not getting injured based on pitch grips. Pitchers get injured by the way they throw the ball.
If most baseball fans followed all the different pitch grips these different pitchers use, they would be amazed. Pitches like splitters, changeups, and spiked breaking balls all require a unique grip that could look painful.
It's no secret that the baseballs that MLB uses are not the greatest, especially compared to the ones used in the Nippon League. MLB's baseballs are considered less tacky, more slippery, and have smaller seams.
It'll be interesting to see just how quickly Kodai Senga can adapt to these new baseballs. If the New York Mets plan to go the distance this year, they'll need him to get it going right out of the gate. He'll be one pitcher to keep an eye on at the start of the season.
