Windup

The windup is one of two legal pitching positions allowed in the rules, the other being the stretch. According to rule 8.01: "The pitcher shall stand facing the batter, his pivot foot in contact with the pitcher's plate and the other foot free. From this position any natural movement associated with his delivery of the ball to the batter commits him to the pitch without interruption or alteration."

Dupee Shaw is credited with being the inventor of the position.

In olden days, the motion often included various showy gestures, such as the pitcher raising both hands well over his head, or a high leg kick. However, such additional gestures, which were thought to add velocity, tend to make mechanics more complex and likelier to break down, and are generally shunned nowadays; advances in biomechanics have helped develop more simple gestures to achieve high velocity. The wind-up is normally used when bases are empty, as even a slow baserunner could easily take advantage of it to steal a base. It is sometimes used with the bases loaded, however, in situations where a steal of home is extremely unlikely.

Further Reading

• Manny Randhawa: "The funkiest windups in MLB history", mlb.com, January 16, 2023. [1]