Tatsuya Imai’s “wrong way” slider is one of the nastiest, most confusing pitches in baseball right now. A normal slider is supposed to break toward the glove side, but Imai’s pitch defies expectations by moving up to 13 inches toward his arm side instead. Even though it looks and spins like a classic breaking ball, it flies in the completely wrong direction. This happens because Imai deliberately manipulates how the ball catches the air. By using a precise grip and wrist angle, he sets the ball’s raised seams to catch the wind unevenly as it travels. This airflow forces the pitch to break toward his arm side, completely overriding the traditional glove-side spin and leaving hitters swinging at air. - follow ( slugger.report ) for insane baseball content - #baseball #mlb #baseballplays #tatsuyaimai #houstonastros