First 11 Pitchers Broken Down

Some people live for the dingers, others live for the shutouts. If you're the latter, then this article is for you. Today we will be breaking down the first 11 pitchers who have agreed to join the SBL. We'll tackle them by archetype and show off what makes them special compared to the others. Let's get started!

Groundballers
Currently we have two Groundballer pitchers onboard: Spicy Burns and Mario McRlwain. Both pitchers are left-handed and both throw a nice Screwball, but that's where the comparisons end between the two. Burns is the smallest of all our pitchers, clocking in at a mere 80 kg, and he comes from the mysterious land of Taco Bells. Burns has a fairly balanced build overall, utilizing a Sinker, Circle Change, and Screwball to keep hitters guessing. On the other hand, McRlwain is a bit more specialized in his build. McRlwain has the best movement on his pitches of all the pitchers so far, which goes well with his movement heavy pitch repertoire of Cutter, Screwball, and Slider.

Control Freaks
Control Freaks are our most popular type so far, coming in hot with a whopping five pitchers. We'll start off with two of our more balanced ones: the right hander Captain Hook and the lefty Domingo Rodriguez. Hook is one of our oldest prospect, coming in at the ripe age of 28 while Rodriguez is our youngest prospect, turning 14 in June. Both throw a standard Fastball and Sinker, though Hook uses a Slider while Rodriguez opts for a Screwball. Our next pitcher, right hander Cid Ramirez, also has a balanced build but with a bit of a twist. He still has a standard Fastball and Screwball, but he also possesses the unique Knuckle Curve pitch, the only pitcher skilled enough to throw it. Next up we have the left-hander Beatrix Ajax, the only Control Freak who doesn't throw a standard Fastball. His loadout includes a Circle Change, Cutter, and Slider, making him quite a bit different from the other Control Freaks. He also is the tallest of all pitchers, clocking in a 6'6", which might be why he currently has the best stamina of the bunch as well. Finally, we come to the most unique prospect of all: Original Dale-Cooper. Dale-Cooper is the shortest prospect at 5'8", the heaviest prospect at 350 lbs, and the oldest prospect already in his 30s. The right-hander has a standard Fastball and a Screwball, but his true uniqueness is in his specialty pitch: the Forkball. No one else in the league can throw it, and his skill with the pitch might be the most impressive of all.

Power Pitchers
Now we get to the true fireballers. We've got 3 power pitchers so far, and all of them bring something different to the table. First up we have the right-hander Nate Nitro. Straight from the Bronx, Nitro comes to the mound with a pretty balanced load-out. He has a standard Fastball, a potent Cutter, and a decent Changeup. Strangely enough, he is the only pitcher who can throw a Changeup competently. Next up we have the Kansas City dream child in the lefty Connor Dyson. Dyson has a plus Fastball, a Slider, and a Sinker, and he is one of the few pitchers who can regularly break 90 MPH on his pitches. He is a unique prospect in that he is the only pitcher so far that has shown a significant split in his style, as his pitches seem to be tougher to hit for left handed batters. Finally we come to the left-handed Magnus Coretti, who strangely does not throw a standard Fastball. Instead, he owns a mean Cutter, Screwball, and a Circle Change in his arsenal. His best ability though is his velocity, as he throws the fastest pitches of all our current prospects. He also joins Domingo Rodriguez as our second pitcher from Brooklyn (and third from New York).

Knuckleballers
Finally, we come to our lone Knuckleballer: James Boxman. Boxman is one of our youngest prospects at a mere 14 years old, and he is our second prospect from San Jose (after Beatrix Ajax). Boxman's specialty pitch is the Knuckleball (of course), and he also throws a Fastball and Slider. Overall, he has a pretty balanced build, but being the only Knuckleballer will make it tough to keep batters off balance.

Final Thoughts
Despite having just 11 pitchers, we've already had multiple prospects from San Jose and Brooklyn, as well as prospects from the strange lands of Neverland and Taco Bells. In addition, we have four pitches thrown by just one player (Nitro's Changeup, Dale-Cooper's Forkball, Ramirez's Knuckle Curve, and Boxman's Knuckleball) and we have two more pitches in Curveball and Splitter that no one has yet mastered. In addition, only two pitchers have the same arsenal pitchers(Captain Hook and Connor Dyson both have Fastball, Slider, and Sinker), and both of them are different archetypes. It will be interesting to see future pitchers take up some of these more unique pitches and further increase the diversity amongst our players.

This is an amazing article. It was really cool to see an in depth look at each of the pitchers. Keep up the great work!