Slider

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This article is about the baseball pitch. For other possible meanings see slider (disambiguation). For the cricket delivery, see slider (cricket).

In baseball, a slider, or nickel curve, is a pitch halfway between a curveball and a fastball, with less break but more speed than the curve. It will tend to drop less and move toward or away from the batter more than a curve. The extra speed can fool the hitter into thinking it is a fastball, until too late. Some pitchers also use a cut fastball (or cutter) which is one step closer than the slider to the fastball on the spectrum between fastballs and curves. A pitch that has movement similar to both a slider and a curveball is sometimes called a slurve.

The slider is also sometimes called "the great equalizer" and "the pitcher's friend," as its development caused pitchers to regain some dominance over hitters. The slider also causes great stress and wear on a pitcher's arm: for this reason the Dodgers organization forbade its pitchers to throw sliders for many years after the pitch became popular.

Pitchers known for throwing sliders include:

New York Yankees pitcher Randy Johnson
Former Yankee Cy Young Award winners Sparky Lyle and Ron Guidry
Florida Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis
Hall of Famers Bob Gibson, Jim Bunning and Steve Carlton
Houston Astros relief pitcher Brad Lidge
Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Ryan Franklin
Minnesota Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano

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