Dominant Sliders

John Smoltz
Bob Gibson
Robb Nen 

Impressive

 

Aroldis Chapman
Steve Carlton
Randy Johnson

Do I Have Your Attention Now?

 

What's the 1st Thing that 'Comes to Mind' when you hear these names?

Why Did These 6 Pitchers Get Linked Together?

 

3 Right Handed, 3 Left Handed

All 6 of them won at least 1 World Series

….that is why you Play the Game!

In Addition to Winning, they all threw extremely Dominant Sliders.  Some of the best the game has ever seen. To go along with their PLUS+ fastballs, the Slider made their arsenal’s even more dynamic as it made for opposing hitters to play a very tough guessing game. Success rates were(are) extremely minimal against these Dominators.

Because when 2 pitches come out of the same release point, with the same arm speed, and look the exact same for the first 55 feet, then one of them explodes forward in the passing lane, reaching upwards of triple digits in velocity and the other one takes the off ramp as the hitter commits to swing, it will take one heck of a lucky guess to hit these pitchers.

 

Let's Take a Closer Look
at These
Top 6 Slider Dominators:

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Known most famously in the trio of Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves Pitching staff in the 1990’s. Smoltz helped the Braves to their 12 Straight Division Titles which included 5 NL Pennants and winning it all in 1995. Smoltz was a dominator from start and finish.

After coming off of Tommy John in the 2001 season, Smoltz returned and served as the Braves closer until the end of the 2004 season. He tallied up 55 Saves in his first full season as a closer. Smoltz was know for 3 plus pitches. His high 90’s fastball and Splitter to go with his Dominate Slider. With a smooth delivery, all 3 of his plus pitches looked like the fastball until the other 2 made their move. The Splitter shot downward and the Slider exploded down and away from right handed hitters. 

With stuff like that, closing games almost seemed unfair as he only had to get 3 outs with that arsenal. It was like in the park for Smoltz. The 2015 Hall of Fame inductee and 8x All Star shined the brightest in October. He owns a 15-4 record and a 2.67 ERA in 209 postseason innings, winning the 1992 NLCS MVP. The Dominant Sliders that he threw at hitters over his career were Dominant from first pitch to the final out.

 

 

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Gibby was one of the most intimidating pitchers of all time. The fierce competitor who led his Cardinals teams to 3 World Series Appearances in the 1960’s. In the Fall Classic, he was 7-2 with a 1.89 ERA, 8 Complete Games, and 92 Strikeouts in 81 Innings. He set the record with 17 Strikeouts in a World Series Game. The hard throwing Hall of Famer with the violent delivery of coming right at hitters, possessed excellent command of his Slider.

His greatest season was in 1968 when he won both the Cy Young and MVP in the National League with a 22-9 record The ERA stands out the most from this campaign at a staggering 1.12.  How impressive is this ERA? Let’s break down the numbers. In 304.2 IP, Gibson only allowed 38 earned runs!!! Gibson completed 28 of the 34 games he started with 13 of them being shutouts in 1968.
It makes you wonder how in the world he lost 9 games that year!?!?!?!?!

 

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Son of a former Major League 1B, Nen was drafted out of high school as 3B, only to be immediately converted to a pitcher in the minor leagues because of his big time arm. With his fastball consistently in the high 90’s to triple digits, his Dominant Sliders...aka The Terminator came in around 92mph….faster than the average Major League fastball.

Aside from the velocity that came with his Slider, it was the depth and downward break that on the Terminator that made Nen so successful. Many thought that it was a Splitter that Nen threw as the bottom dropped out of the ball so fiercely.

Nen was known for his unorthodox toe tap delivery that excluded a leg kick. At 6’5” 220 Lbs, Nen used his very strong upper half to get on top of the Slider and release it out in front. The 3x All Star finished 4th in the 2000 NL Cy Young Award Voting when he finished with 41 Saves, a 1.50 ERA and 92 K’s in 66 IP to just 19 BB. Dominant Sliders

 

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Let's Change Sides Now and Honor the Southpaws

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The Big Unit. Standing 6’10” with a fierce stare and an even scarier mullet, his triple digit fastball coming out at his low ¾ delivery looked like it was being released from first base. There was no shame for Left Handed hitters to bow the “Randy Johnson Flu” that plagued Major League lineup cards every 5 days in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. The only lefties that ever faced Johnson seemed to be to opposing pitchers. Johnson was as Dominant as you could possibly be on the mound. Especially, during an era loaded with offense and power hitters.

6 times he accumulated over 300 Strikeouts (if it weren’t for the Players Strike in 1994-95, he would have had at least 1 more 300 K Season). His 372 Strikeouts in 249.2 IP in 2001, are 3rd all time for a single season in the modern era, behind only Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax. 

For Johnson’s Slider, it didn’t matter whether he was facing Lefties or Righties. For the brave souls who did attempt to step into the box on the left side, they saw a pitch released behind them, plus several feet closer on the release than most pitchers, then breaking all the way off the outside corner of the plate. The Right Handers, who saw more of the Big Unit still had slim luck in figuring him out.

His Slider started out in the same spot, seemingly, several feet off the plate, away, only to end up endangering the toes on their back foot. Much like Carlton’s Slider, the hitter would see the pitch as a BALL, STRIKE, then a BALL again…… It’s hard enough to hit the Dominant Slider when you know it’s coming. Now factor in the fastball in the 96-100 MPH range. It just proves that the hitter has to respect your fastball when you have a good Slider.

The hitter has a minuscule amount of time to react to the pitch. As to no surprise, Randy Johnson threw a No Hitter and a Perfect Game to go along with his 5 Cy Young Awards and 2001 World Series Co-MVP Award. In 2015, he joined John Smoltz from this list as their Sliders’ helped them be enshrined in Cooperstown.

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For the generation of people who were fortunate to experience Steve Carlton pitch, his Slider is referred to as the Gold Standard of all who attempt to throw this dominant pitch….and rightly so. Lefty was a 4 Time Cy Young Award Winner and 10x All Star. The 5 time 20 game winner is 4th on the All Time Strikeout List.

He learned his Slider while playing in an exhibition series in Japan after the 1968 season. From here he took off. In 1969, the Dominant Sliders helped him lower his ERA 0.82 from his previous season. In September of '69, he went on to strike out 19 batters of the eventual World Series Champion New York Mets.

The intense mental and physical training through his passion of the martial arts, Lefty boasted extreme confidence in his Slider. Carlton knew when the Slider is thrown correctly, with the same arm speed and from the same release point as his fastball, the hitter would never be able to tell the difference.

The best Sliders in baseball are the ones that start out a strike and end up out of the zone. For Lefty, his took a different route. Often times, his Slider would start out as a ball, break at a razor sharp angle down and across the zone, and end up in the dirt. This drastic movement made it impossible to lay off his Slider, and even more so, absurd to try and hit.

The Zen Master of Pitching, Carlton was a mental warrior. Unphased, unrattled by any game situation. His first Cy Young campaign came in 1972. In his first season with the Phillies, Steve went 27-10 on a team that only won 59 games. He set the bar for pitchers accumulating wins on a bad team. The very deep thinker that Carlton is, he had a very simplified approach to throwing his majestic Slider. He once told former teammate, Dick Ruthven, You hold it like this and throw the BLEEP out of it!!!!

The results backed up his claim.

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When Aroldis Chapman comes to mind, the first thing you think of is straight GAS!!!!! Chapman has dialed up 105 MPH on the radar gun, the fastest pitch ever recorded. Thru the 2015 season, this closer owns an incredible 15.4 K/9IP. His fastball has averaged over 100 MPH for entire seasons.

His Slider comes into play to disrupt the hitters timing on his fastball. Major League hitters can time a bullet when they see it enough times. When the pitch looks like the bullet that the hitter is expecting, and he thinks he has it timed, and lets Chapman’s velocity supply all the power…..the hitter has another thing coming. This simple change in speeds and change in eye levels, often times sets up Chapman’s high heat to embarrass hitters.

 

This lethal combination for Chapman made him the fastest pitcher to ever reach 500 Strikeouts. Despite the consistent triple digits from the Cuban Flame Thrower, Chapman actually gets a high swing and miss rate on his Slider. Hitters have to go into the box looking for a fastball from Chapman. However, once they see a Slider from him, the at bat now becomes a very difficult guessing game….as there is very, very little reaction time. This is something very special we get to watch with Chapman on a regular basis in the 9th inning.

 

 

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6 Dominant Sliders
The Grand Tally

 

    W - L    ERA    SV     K       K/9

1164 - 791  3.16  660 16,631  8.4

As Aroldis Chapman is still active and mowing down hitters with ease in the Peak of his Career, he will continue to add to these staggering numbers. The Running Tally, at the end of the 2016 season of these 6 Pitchers who used (use) the Slider to Dominate Hitters is beyond Impressive.

A Winning Percentage of .595, a Save Percentage of 87%, 8 World Series Rings, 12 Cy Young Awards, 1 MVP, 164 Shutouts, and Oh Yeah..... 2 No Hitters and a Perfect Game. It's very, very difficult to argue the impact the Slider has on baseball. Just ask the Hitters who faced these pitchers and how many sleepless nights they had from the Sliders of these Dominators.
These 6 Legends that are showcased, possessed some of the greatest Slider’s the game has ever seen. To go along with their PLUS+ fastballs, the Slider made them extremely dynamic pitchers. All pitchers with great Sliders know that if they can get the count to situation to throw the Slider and put the hitter away, they will be in great shape.

On the other side of the coin, hitters know the same thing… Hitters will do all they can to not fall behind pitchers of this caliber. Even when they know the Slider is coming, it’s very difficult to hit. Even Ted Williams said so...

 

Now it's on to You....

Are you ready to take your mound game to the Next Level??? Are you serious about creating your Legacy as a pitcher? Is your pitching arsenal missing that Dominant Weapon Pitch? You Know...The one that will flat out embarrass good hitters? Now is the time to get in on the Fun of Throwing Dominant Sliders Like these 6 Pitching Greats, because you have it in you!
So If you haven't done so already,

Click Here to Download the FREE Audiobook

7 Reasons Why YOU Should Throw a Slider

Find out if you are a pitcher who has the right make up to throw the Dominant Sliders….just like these Baseball Greats.

 

Just keep in mind....

Great Pitchers do not waste any time when it comes to being the Absolute Best.

 

Keep Dominating!!!

Dominant Sliders