There are so many different baseball pitches, it's like picking out cheese in the dairy section of your local grocery store.
The Fastballs
"He can throw that speed ball by you, make you like a fool." Bruce Springsteen wrote that and it's very true. A great fast ball can embarrass many a batter. There are two types of fast balls: the two seam fast ball and the four seam. The four seam is the faster pitch, while the two seamer is considered a movement pitch. The slider is another fast pitch. It's a pitch that has a frisbee effect. It comes in straight but at the last moment will tail away or tail in catching a corner of the plate.
The Breaking Balls
Curveballs can also make a batter look like a completer and utter fool. Curveballs are pitches that appear to be heading for the batter but at the last second curve away.
The sinker is another pitch and to some major league hurlers, it is their bread and butter. Sinker ball pitchers don't strike many people out, but they get batters to hit the ball on the ground. Hopefully, to one of their highly skilled infielders. That's because the sinker comes in on a batter at a height that looks extremely hittable but at the last instant drops. Therefore, causing the batter to hit down on the ball.
A split finger fast ball has that same action. It'll drop at the last second, but it comes in much faster. It appears to be a fast ball but will dip at the last second under a hitter's bat.
The Slow Balls
The change-up is a slow pitch. If done correctly, it will appear the pitcher is throwing a fast ball. There are a few types of change-ups and they have to do with the way they are held more than anything. The effect is the same though, they're slow. These include the three finger, the circle change and the palm ball.
The Crazy Balls
Perhaps you refer to one of your uncles as this pitch or, you've been called one yourself. The screwball isn't your normal pitch. A natural curve ball will break in the opposite direction from a pitcher's throwing hand. The screwball does the opposite.
Last, but not least, the knuckleball. There are very few that have mastered this pitch. It's probably one of the hardest pitches to hit when thrown correctly. The knuckleball has no spin on it whatsoever. It cuts threw the air, the stitches on the ball make it dance, literally. Both the hitter and catcher really have no idea where it's going to land.
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