After leaving a pitcher’s hand, a baseball pitch is influenced by three forces: gravity, drag, and the Magnus force. Gravity pulls the ball downwards, drag slows the ball down, and the Magnus force generates a perpendicular force, depending on what pitch is thrown thought. As the ball spins it’s flight path, pressure acts form on it and the Magnus effect generates a force perpendicular to the motion of the ball in the direction of the spin. In baseball, a pitcher has more control over the spin of the ball than in any other sport. A pitcher can spin the ball to add topspin, backspin, or even sidespin depending on the pitch they want to throw.
Fastballs are the easiest pitches to throw as they are only affected by the Magnus force. A four-seam fastball is a pitcher’s main pitch, which is thrown the most often. There is a tendency to add backspin to the ball as it is released. The backspin points the Magnus force up, causing the ball to fall slower than other pitches, this will create the illusion that the ball is rising. Other fastballs, like the two-seam and the cutter, are thrown with spin, but are moving too fast for the Magnus effect to change their position drastically.
Breaking balls are the pitches that most rely on the Magnus force to be effective.
As the pitcher releases the ball, he snaps his wrist over the ball, putting a huge amount of spin on it. This causes the ball to break down and left diagonally or right diagonally. If thrown correctly, the curveball will look like an arc and it will drop velocity and chances of being hit. A slider is thrown with horizontal spin, causing the ball to break laterally either right to left or left to right. A screwball is thrown with similar spin to a curveball, except it breaks down and right.
Reference:
“Pitch Types | Glossary.” Major League Baseball, m.mlb.com/glossary/pitch-types.
Mr. Jose The Scientific 