(RADIO.COM Sports) The Pitching Ninja Twitter account is one of the most popular analytical baseball accounts on social media, as it takes a deeper look at the movement of a pitch. It has also become a tool to help pitchers themselves.
San Diego Padres right-hander Yu Darvish acknowledged that he contacted the Pitching Ninja, Rob Friedman, to help him with his own arsenal.
A video on a Japanese baseball Twitter account surfaced Wednesday night that showed Darvish revealing how he asked Friedman for video of Cleveland ace Shane Bieber’s knuckle-curve while Darvish was playing for the Cubs last season.
The account shows the video that Friedman sent Darvish, which focused on Bieber’s release — spiking his index and middle fingers to apply spin on the ball. Darvish studied the video and applied his findings to his own repertoire. Darvish first began using the knuckle-curve in 2019 after learning how to throw it from closer Craig Kimbrel.
Last September, Friedman posted a GIF of Darvish throwing Bieber’s knuckle-curve, adding he had confirmation from the source.
While the 2020 season was shortened by the pandemic, it was one of the best of Darvish's career. He had a 2.01 ERA and struck out 93 batters in 76 innings, finishing runner-up behind then-Reds ace Trevor Bauer in the NL Cy Young award race. Of Darvish’s 93 strikeouts, 25.6% came on a curveball, per Fangraphs. The Cubs then traded Darvish to the Padres in late December.
Bieber, meanwhile, won the AL Cy Young award last year with a 1.63 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings.
Clearly, there's some magic to the knuckle-curve that they throw.
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