The sweeper — a horizontal slider — had long been lumped in with other breaking balls. Thanks to a change in the Statcast system, it is suddenly its own thing.
There’s a new fixture at ballparks this year, besides the pitch clock and bigger bases. This one did not have its own marketing campaign, and it wasn’t tested with focus groups and minor leaguers. Even those responsible for it have been startled by its presence on stadium scoreboards.
“When it said ‘sweeper,’ we were like, ‘What the heck?’” said Michael King, a Yankees right-handed reliever. “We had no idea.