| Changeup | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First Seen | |
| Anime | S1 - Episode 19 |
| Notable Users | |
| Pitchers | Narumiya Mei |
The Changeup is an off-speed breaking ball designed to confuse a batters timing by being much slower than the fastball. Simply put it's a slowball. There is no uniform grip for it, so the break, speed, and spin all vary due to the differences in the grip and style.
Since the pitch purpose is to confuse the batter's timing, the bigger the speed gap between the fastball and the changeup is, the better. It is thrown with the same motion as for a fastball, so the risk of a pitcher over straining his elbow is low which makes it a popular pitch among pitchers. [1]
Grip
One is free to hold the ball however they like as long as the speed of the ball drops. The most common grip is by forming a circle with one's index finger and thumb and wrapping the rest of the fingers around the ball which is commonly referred to as the Circle Changeup. The purpose of the grips are to lower the amount of strength/speed transferred to the ball while the pitcher try to swing the arm hard like throwing a fastball as not to tip the batter that a different pitch is coming and let the fingers slow down the ball and not the arm. The more convincing the pitcher can sell the image that he's throwing a fastball to the batter, the more effective the changeup will be.
Users
| Pitcher | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Narumiya Mei | During the three-way round robin in the summer camp between Seidou, Shuuhoku and Inashiro, Narumiya displayed the pitch to either scare the Seidou High players or to show off how much he's improved.
Special Feature: His changeup breaks like a Screwball. |
(see infobox) |
| Sawamura Eijun | Having recovered from the yips, Ochiai taught Sawamura the changeup on the eve of Seidou's quarterfinals match against Ouya High during the Fall tournament.
Special Feature: Depending on his grip, the break of his changeup will vary. Gripping it with all his fingers (Palmball) will produce a faster changeup while gripping it with the Vulcan grip will produces an even sharper breaking pitch. |
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| Toujou Hideaki | Toujou threw the pitch once in a demonstration to show Sawamura how it's done.[3] | 
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