cut fastball

noun

baseball
: a fastball thrown with sideways spin so that it moves laterally as it nears the plate
… his best pitches are a baffling splitter and a cut fastball that bores in on right-handed hitters.—Rob Neyer

called also cutter

Examples of cut fastball in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Clase threw his hundred-mile-an-hour cut fastball, and Judge lined it over the right-field wall. — Nicholas Dawidoff, The New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2024 Detroit’s Colt Keith led off the fifth by homering on an 0-2 cut fastball above the strike zone. — ABC News, 2 July 2026 Curet threw a sinker that topped out at 98 mph in his final appearance of 2025, in addition to a cut fastball and a four-seamer. — Jon Paul Hoornstra, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2025 Working with the Dodgers’ analysts and coaches, Kopech has been throwing a cut fastball rather than a slider to complement his triple-digit fastball. — Phil Rogers, Forbes, 24 Oct. 2024 See All Example Sentences for cut fastball

Word History

First Known Use

1970, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cut fastball was in 1970

Rhymes for cut fastball

See All Rhymes for cut fastball

Browse Nearby Words

cutesy
cut fastball
cut film
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Cite this Entry

“Cut fastball.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cut%20fastball. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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