Former Royals catcher Mike Macfarlane teaches unique pitch to young baseball players

Across more than 8,000 innings behind the plate and countless more pitches caught, former Royals catcher Mike Macfarlane has learned quite a few things about pitching.

But after opening a baseball youth academy in 1996 and becoming a full-time pitching coach following his retirement in 1999, he learned something else.

At his academy, Mac-N-Seitz Baseball and Softball in south Kansas City, Macfarlane told one of his students to play with a new grip: a knuckle-curveball with two knuckles pressed against the baseball, rather than the traditional one knuckle. He realized young pitchers could throw a curveball while putting less stress on their arms.

And it stuck.

Now, with 20-plus youth teams under his guidance, Macfarlane teaches the pitch to many young players, usually around 8-9 years old. As they get older, Macfarlane generally switches his students over to the traditional knuckle-curveball, with one knuckle, since it’s easier to manipulate.

Baseball people around the Kansas City area have taken notice. The unique pitch has become more prevalent among high-school pitchers’ arsenals, and it’s even picked up a nickname: the Kansas City Knuckle-Curve.

Riley Pint, one of the best high-school baseball players the Kansas City area has ever seen, learned the pitch from Macfarlane. The Colorado Rockies selected Pint, who can reach triple digits on his fastball, fourth overall in this year’s amateur draft.

“It’s something that I’ve seen a lot more around this area, that’s for sure” said Rockies scout Brett Baldwin, who signed Pint and has watched the area’s prospects for about three years. “It’s unique, but it’s great.”

The pitch works similar to a traditional knuckle-curveball. The pitcher uses two knuckles to hold the ball, wraps the rest of his fingers around the outside of the ball and throws it like a fastball, instead of employing the snapping motion that a traditional curveball requires.

Baldwin said the pitch mimics a slider, but the pitcher throws it in the same arm slot as a fastball, making it hard for the batter to pick up.

Since the motion avoids a lot wrist and elbow action, Macfarlane believes it is less taxing on the arm while allowing young kids to throw a breaking ball that could fool inexperienced hitters.

“We can get them to understand the effectiveness of (a breaking ball) without putting a lot of stress on the elbow,” Macfarlane said. “It’s a misnomer. It’s a trick pitch for them because it is thrown with same mechanics as a fastball and the ball tumbles and you get that curve and break to it.”

That belief isn’t held unanimously across baseball circles. Although opinions vary from coach to coach, Baldwin is one that isn’t ready to buy into the security of the pitch just yet.

“A lot of people say it’s better for the arm, when in reality, there isn’t any evidence to back that up,” Baldwin said. “I’m just not sure it’s healthier.”

Baldwin acknowledges, though, that the knuckle-curveball isn’t hard to learn and is easy to throw properly. He said a traditional curveball can be detrimental to a young arm if taught the wrong way.

Olathe North junior Connor Hughes, one of Macfarlane’s students, has used the pitch since he was 9 years old. At 15, Macfarlane switched Hughes over to the one-fingered knuckle-curve, which he calls the “spike knuckle.”

Hughes, too, has noticed that pitchers in the area are throwing the pitch more often. It has become especially popular among youth coaches trying to keep their kids’ arms safe.

“I see a lot of guys throwing this pitch who want to save their arm,” Hughes said. “You see a lot of curveballs too, but a lot of kids here are starting to throw it (with the knuckles) more.”

Averaging about 80 mph on his fastball, Hughes relies on his off-speed pitches to help him throw an effective game. He considers his knuckle-curveball his out-pitch, assisting him in striking batters out.

And, of course, he loves the feeling when he makes a batter whiff.

“It was cool to be able to change speeds and make hitters look funny,” Hughes said. “It did help. It helped me a lot. It still does.”

This story was originally published July 28, 2016 at 4:27 PM with the headline "Former Royals catcher Mike Macfarlane teaches unique pitch to young baseball players."