In softball they have a pitch called a riseball. This concept actually makes sense in the sport because the pitchers throw underhand and can direct the ball upwards. It’s much different for a baseball pitcher to get similar movement because they obviously throw overhand, but Gerrit Cole is trying to defy those conventions.
In the first inning of Thursday’s Pirates-White Sox game, Cole struck out Adam LaRoche on a 2-2 pitch that seemed to run up and away. It looked like a nasty two-seam fastball that just had silly run and movement, and left LaRoche waving at air.