MLB The Show 22: Best pitches to use in Road to the Show (RTTS)

Slider or Curve?

In addition to a Fastball and Changeup, I like to have a breaking pitch as my third slot. A Slider or Curveball are both great options.

Slider

The traditional Slider possesses sharp lateral movement towards the glove side of the pitcher, so the ball is going to break across the plate. If you’re a right-handed pitcher, it’s going to move away from right-handed hitters and into left-handed hitters. I love the Slider as a Closer or Relief pitcher as you don’t really have to sacrifice speed for the movement. A hard-throwing Fastball/Slider combination like Aroldis Chapman is a fun playstyle.

Curveball

As a Starting Pitcher, I prefer a Curveball. There are all sorts of variations of the Curveball, each with varying degrees of break movement. The traditional Curveball  drops sharply towards the glove side of the plate as it approaches while the 12-6 is more of a steep vertical drop with almost no lateral movement. The Sweeping Curve, as the name suggests, sweeps across the strike zone.

If you want a combination of a Slider and a Curveball, the Slurve is a wonderful option. This breaks down and away towards the glove side of the pitcher.

Honestly, you could have a Slider and a Curveball as your 3rd and 4th pitches and be totally fine. A Fastball, Change, Slider, Curveball arsenal might not sound sexy or “fun” but it’s definitely effective. There’s a nice combination of speed, movement and break to keep hitters off balance and guessing. I don’t think you need one, but if you’d like a fifth pitch, here are some options.