As Northwestern reliever Chris Hayes dropped down to fire a pitch in an April 27 game against Illinois, a few kids in the stands looked at each other in confusion.
“What the heck is that guy doing?” one of them asked.
“I don’t know,” the other replied. “He’s throwing weird.”
Many baseball-crazed dads, older brothers and the great pitchers of baseball’s past preach the same pitching strategy to today’s American youth — a strong wind-up, followed by an over-the-top delivery.
But Hayes’ delivery flies in the face of traditional wind-ups and follows a recent trend that has grown more popular in Major League Baseball — sidearm pitching.
Byung-Hyun Kim of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chad Bradford of the Oakland Athletics have emerged as two of MLB’s elite sidearm pitchers.
Their styles have been replicated in the professional ranks. And while this new breed of pitchers has been a fixture in Japan and South Korea for some time, only recently have they become a common sight in North American baseball.
“The number has definitely increased over the years,” Michigan State sidearmer Bryan Gale said. “I’d say up to 60 or 70 percent of major league teams have at least one pitcher coming out of the bullpen who sometimes drops down to the side.”
But in the Big Ten, full-time sidearm pitchers are few and far between.
“There aren’t as many as there used to be, but I think they just come in random spurts,” NU coach Paul Stevens said. “It’s different — it’s a completely different arm slot they’re throwing out of.”
Gale is the only starting pitcher in the Big Ten who has a sidearm delivery. Gale estimates he throws sidearm 45 percent of the time and almost underhanded another 45 percent.
“I come out from over the top every once in a while,” Gale said. “But for the most part I come from underneath or from the side. It’s just been my style”
Gale isn’t the only Big Ten hurler that employs this method. NU’s Hayes comes out of the bullpen throwing from the side.
“I started out coming from the top just like everyone else does,” Hayes said. “I only used to (drop down) every once in a while in high school when I was ahead in the count.”
Hayes and Gale began experimenting with different deliveries for different reasons. Hayes thought it would be a good way to break out of a slump, while Gale made the switch with a long-term goal in mind.
“It’s not like I ever struggled coming over the top,” Gale said. “But I was looking towards the next level, and throwing 84-86 miles an hour over the top wasn’t going to be good enough to get drafted. This way I give scouts another thing to look at.”
Gale and Hayes wind up the same way any normal pitcher would. But once they kick up the front leg, they grip the ball well below belt level and fling their pitching arm in an almost-diagonal direction as the ball is released. They follow through with their hands ending up near the opposite shoulders.
Although it seems unnatural to others, Hayes and Gale insist that their style of throwing is easier on their arms.
“I don’t think that it’s bad for my arm or anything,” Hayes said. “I’ve never been unfortunate enough to have any kind of arm trouble. Compared to throwing over the top, I feel better throwing from underneath or from the side.”
The style may be more comfortable for Hayes and Gale, but batters used to having pitchers release the ball near eye level need to focus on pitches coming out from almost underneath them.
“You have to change the way you approach an at-bat, especially if the guy throwing at me sidearm is left-handed,” said NU outfielder David Gresky, a lefty. “You definitely have to change the way you hit. It’s still the same strike zone, but now your eyes have to focus on a whole different spot.”
Throwing sidearm causes pitchers to lose velocity on their fastballs, but what frustrates batters are breaking balls.
Breaking balls from sidearm pitchers don’t follow the up-and-down pattern most batters are used to seeing. Instead, these pitches break in a left-to-right manner.
Sometimes pitches can appear to be breaking in an upward direction made famous by Kim’s “Nintendo slider,” which seems to be something from out of a video game.
Stevens said the drastic difference from an over-the-top delivery makes sidearmers especially effective out of the bullpen.
“I think they’re much more effective short-term and in relief,” Stevens said. “If he’s out there longer, batters will get a better look at him and adjust better.”
Stevens knows the difficulty of facing sidearmers first-hand. The Wildcats have had a love-hate relationship with Gale through his three seasons.
As a freshman, the Spartans’ hurler tossed a complete game against NU while striking out a career-high eight batters. After being defeated in Evanston his sophomore year, Gale came back this year to shut down the Cats in another complete game, again striking out eight.
Gale has emerged as one of the conference’s top starters. The Decatur, Mich., native is currently leading the Big Ten in innings pitched. He is sixth in ERA and second in opposing batting average.
Meanwhile, Hayes is holding his own as a reliever for the Cats. Hayes has anERA of 0.84 in eight appearances this year.
But while these two continue to enjoy success throwing from the side, they also understand why there are only a select few like them.
“I definitely think it has its advantages,” Gale said. “But some guys just aren’t flexible enough to do it.”
Hayes finds that pitches are harder to aim when throwing from the side.
“It’s good because batters aren’t used to it, but it’s definitely harder to control,” Hayes said. “The key is to keep the ball down and get a lot of ground balls.”
While sidearm hurlers continue to infiltrate the professional ranks, Gale hopes to be another one of them.
And he has some advice for other aspiring pitchers as well.
“If you’re in high school and you throw maybe 82-86 miles an hour, it’s hard to get recruited,” he said. “But if you can drop down, it’ll increase your chances of going somewhere.”
