Speaking of which, Rivera paused for a moment, and then shifted the topic, "The cutter is different from these pitches—its characteristic is 'moderation'—2 to 3 miles slower than a fastball, its displacement is only a third of a slider, yet these traits have allowed it to firmly occupy a niche in modern baseball."
"I don't know if you've noticed, Lin—compared to our era of baseball, since the 2010s, Major League hitters have increasingly aimed to send the ball skyward...the fly-ball revolution has almost transformed the ecology of pitching and hitting, and launch angles of 25 to 30 degrees have become the pursuit of every hitter, while fast cutters are the nemesis of this swing trajectory!"
