For most of the 60-foot path to the plate, it looks like a fastball has come out of Shohei Ohtani’s right hand.
He has the same arm speed, and lets it go from the same release point. It travels on the same plane, appearing to be another upper-90s heater labeled for the strike zone.
Not until the last moment can most hitters realize it’s something else. And by then, they’ve usually already swung, their bat waving helplessly out in front and over the top of a pitch that has dived away from where they thought it was going to be.