Four-seam fastball

The ball is gripped with the index and middle fingers set on or across a line (cross-seam) of the "horseshoe" seam that faces outward, i.e., away from the pitcher's body.

Due to its straight and level flight an errant fastball will not fool many batters as to its direction; thus, it elicits fewer swings and produces more walks when thrown outside the strike zone.

They requires very little unnatural motion of the arm, elbow or shoulders, and the ball comes off the fingers easily when the pitch is completed as it is intended to be thrown.

Scientific studies have shown that the four-seam and two-seam fastballs have essentially the same flight paths and speeds,[4] but, typically, a batter perceives a difference between them.

The perceived difference is due to flicker fusion threshold, which is defined as the frequency that a flashing light appears "steady" to the human eye.

[7] Commonly referred to as “Bauer Units” (slang invented by Driveline Baseball), SPV is defined as Spin Rate per Velocity.

[8] Four-seam fastball is also the most preferred throw for fielding as it is the fastest and has no stray lateral movement in the air, according to Harold Reynolds and Kevin Kiermaier.