Pitch Development Guide
Installing a new pitch on a pitcher is one of the most dramatic moments in unit upgrades. But failure has side effects, so you need to decide who gets which pitch, and when.
Pitches you can develop
There are 10 pitch types used in pitching. The four-seam fastball isn't learned as a new pitch; it's handled through Stuff & Velocity Boost training. A pitcher can carry up to 5 pitch types.
| Pitch | Tendency | Related pitches (easier to learn if it already has one) |
|---|---|---|
| Two-seamer | Ground balls | Sinker, cutter |
| Sinker | Ground balls | Two-seamer |
| Cutter | - | Slider, two-seamer |
| Slider | Strikeouts | Sweeper, cutter, curveball |
| Sweeper | Strikeouts | Slider |
| Curveball | - | Slider |
| Changeup | - | Splitter, forkball |
| Forkball | Strikeouts | Splitter, changeup |
| Splitter | Ground balls · Strikeouts | Forkball, changeup |
The more polished a sinker, two-seamer or splitter is, the more ground balls it produces, and a sweeper, slider, forkball or splitter above a certain level produces more strikeouts. Pitchers with good ground-ball pitches pair well with the double-play call, and pitchers with good strikeout pitches pair well with the closer role.
The development process
- Choose a pitch — On the unit detail screen, choose to learn a new pitch or refine one it already has.
- Training period — A new pitch takes around 40 days, shorter with a better pitching Maintenance Engineer. Refinement takes about 25 days. Extra throwing during training builds up load.
- Acquisition check — When training ends, success or failure is decided.
- Live testing — On success, the pitch joins the repertoire at low proficiency, and proficiency rises over 15 innings pitched in real games. After testing, it becomes an established pitch.
Training that isn't finished during the season is completed in the offseason.
What raises the odds of success
- A higher Breaking Stuff stat (the biggest factor)
- Better Control
- Already having a related pitch is a big advantage (see the table above)
- A Behavior OS with good training efficiency, like High-Efficiency
- A better pitching Maintenance Engineer
- Odds drop at age 33 and up
Side effects of failure
If acquisition fails, the following can happen:
- Loss of control — Learning a new delivery throws off existing calibration values.
- Lower calibration on existing pitches — Its main weapon gets slightly less polished.
- Elbow servo overload — It's out with a malfunction for about 8–20 days.
While training a new pitch, control can waver very slightly regardless of success.
Who should get a new pitch
- Young starters with only 2 pitches — A third pitch makes it much easier to survive multiple times through the order. This has the biggest payoff.
- Bullpen arms with good stuff but no putaway pitch — One strikeout pitch can turn them into high-leverage relievers.
- Avoid key pitchers right before the Postseason — Given the malfunction risk and training load, it's safer in the offseason or after the standings are settled.
- Refine instead of learning new — Refining a main weapon has a much higher success rate and still improves slightly even on failure. Choose this if you want to avoid risk.
Young pitchers on AI clubs also learn new pitches in the offseason, and you'll see it in the news when they add a new weapon. Check what weapon the opposing ace picked up over the winter.