Another common pitch in baseball is the breaking ball. These pitches cause the ball to change course as it moves closer to home plate, therefore confusing the batter. Most breaking balls are referred to as off-speed pitches. The most common are the curve ball (with variations like the knuckle curve and the slurve), the slider, and the screwball. All of these either curve to one side or the other or drop lower as they reach the batter, throwing off the aim of the bat.

A change-up is an off-speed pitch that is thrown to look like a fastball, while actually arriving at the plate much more slowly. This confuses the batters timing of the swing. This type of pitch is used quite commonly, with variations like the palmball and circle change being the most frequent styles.

Other pitches used include knuckleballs, brushbacks, spitballs (no longer accepted in the major leagues), the intentional ball (usually used against batters who are likely to hit home runs at inconvenient times during a game), and gyroballs. With so many options, its no wonder batting averages arent higher. It takes a lot of work and attention to learn the routine of a pitcher, and by the time a batter picks up the pattern, its time to play someone else!