Baseball’s latest pitching craze is sweeping through Baltimore – The Denver Post

Ryan Mountcastle doesn’t remember the first time he heard the term “sweeper,” but he hasn’t forgotten the first one he faced.

“It was just, like, the craziest thing I’d ever seen,” the Orioles first baseman said.

Normally, for Mountcastle to decide a breaking ball was going to make its way to a hittable area, he would see whether it started between him and the strike zone. But when then-Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Chaz Roe deployed his sweeper against Mountcastle during spring training in 2020, he had to look far more inside.

“I’d have to have it start at my butt,” he said. “It was bizarre.”

The name “sweeper” has gained prevalence of late, but in truth, the pitch that carries the name has existed for years. Baseball Savant, Major League Baseball’s hub for…