TORONTO — In Game 6 of the World Series on Friday, two of the foremost practitioners of the pitch that has defined October will duel at Rogers Centre. Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto is trying to save his team’s season, and Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman is trying to win his franchise’s first championship in more than 30 years, and both will rely heavily on the split-fingered fastball, an offering that for almost 20 years teetered on the brink of extinction in Major League Baseball.

The rise of the splitter over the past half a decade — fueled by the emergence of elite pitching from Japan, where the the offering is a standard part of nearly every pitcher’s arsenal, and the softening on its use by MLB teams that at one point had forbid the pitch, fearful that it directly led to elbow injuries — has transformed baseball even more than the cutter and sweeper once did. Because it’s a superior pitch to all of them.

“If you can throw it near the strike zone,” Clayton Kershaw said, “it’s the best pitch in the game.”

In recent years, Kershaw began throwing a split-change, finally finding a comfortable variation of a changeup after spending his 18-year future Hall of Fame career in search of one. He is far from alone. This postseason, 32 pitchers, representing nearly a quarter of playoff hurlers, have thrown splitters. Since the advent of pitch tracking in 2008, the highest percentage of splitters thrown among overall pitches in October was 3.2% last year. Most seasons, it ranged between 0.2% and 2%.

This October, 6.8% of all pitches have been splitters, a staggering number that reflects the game’s wholesale embrace. It’s not just Gausman (who has thrown the pitch 41.4% of the time in the playoffs) and Yamamoto (24.7%). Toronto rookie Trey Yesavage dominated the Dodgers with his splitter in Game 5. Shohei Ohtani, who will pitch in Game 7 if the Dodgers win Friday’s battle of the splits, throws a vicious one. Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman could set off a celebration with one. The same goes for Dodgers closer Roki Sasaki, whose splitter dances in all directions with perilously low spin, like a souped-up knuckleball.

“It’s kind of one of the few pitches I thoroughly believe a hitter can know it’s coming and still get out,” Gausman said. “I’ve always felt like the changeup is the best pitch in the game because it looks like a fastball, and anything that looks like a fastball and isn’t is really good. So, I think that’s why you’re seeing a lot more guys do it. I’m happy to see a lot more starters do it because it was always kind of more of a reliever pitch. So, to me, it’s exciting to see guys like Yamamoto throw it a lot.”

The splitter is the evolutionary descendant of the forkball, which dates back to the 1910s. Whereas a forkball was jammed as deep as possible between the index and middle fingers, the splitter offers more leeway for pitchers to find comfort. It is not a discriminating pitch like the changeup, which necessitates pronation — the internal rotation of the forearm that leaves the thumb facing down and the pinky up after release — something with which Kershaw and others struggle. It’s quite simple, actually: put the ball between two fingers, support it with the thumb, throw it with the arm speed of a fastball and let the grip do the work.

Closer Bruce Sutter learned the splitter in 1973 and rode it to the Hall of Fame, inspiring the next generation to throw the pitch that looks like a fastball, only to die as it approaches the plate. Mike Scott won a Cy Young with it. Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling and John Smoltz pitched into their 40s thanks to it. By the time their careers ended in the 2000s, though, the splitter was made into a scapegoat for failing elbow ligaments across the game. Some had the gumption to keep throwing it. Most were discouraged, turning splitter into a four-letter word.

The lack of splitters thrown led to a knowledge gap, Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said, “and I don’t think a lot of people knew how to teach it. If you were around a guy who threw it, maybe you can mess with it. If you weren’t, I don’t even remember anybody I was with who threw splits. So, it was something you didn’t even mess around with.”

The arrival of Masahiro Tanaka to the New York Yankees in 2014 ushered in a new generation of the splitter. And technology aided its rebirth. Super-high-speed Edgertronic cameras allowed pitchers to see how a ball left their hands. TrackMan, the radar-based system that measures pitches’ spin and movement, gave immediate feedback and a granular look at a pitch’s effectiveness.

“Five, 10, 15 years ago, a guy would work on a pitch all year then find out,” Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker said. “Looking back, that was fruitless. It was not going to happen. So, we wasted a year of someone’s career working on a curveball, working on a slider or working on a split-fingered fastball. I think now it’s just expedited. We can make that decision with more background on it and more validity to it.”

Compound that ability and desire to learn new offerings with the sport-wide understanding that velocity is the greatest predictor of arm injuries, and teams’ stances on splitters softened. Pitchers jumped at the opportunity to try the splitter, and with good reason.

This postseason, batters are hitting .154/.206/.250 against splitters — the lowest numbers in each triple-slash category for any pitch. In the World Series, the Dodgers are 1-for-22 with 14 strikeouts on splitters. Toronto has thrown splitters 13.7% of the time during the playoffs, a number that figures to jump with Gausman on the mound in Game 6.

The splitter has saved careers — “I’d have been done a long time ago without it,” Dodgers reliever Kirby Yates said — and is more frequently making them. Over this winter, it will be the talk of pitching labs around the sport, with hundreds of professional pitchers at all levels seeing if it works. Already, multiple front office officials said, teams are digging into their pitchers’ movement patterns to see if a splitter would complement their current arsenal. And because of what they’ve learned designing other new pitches, they’ll have a decent idea whether it works sooner rather than later.

“It could be one session,” Walker said. “It could be even before the session, to be honest with you.”

The versatility of the splitter only adds to the allure. Pitchers can throw it extremely hard, like Paul Skenes‘ and Jhoan Duran‘s splinker, a splitter-sinker hybrid. They can aim for a forked, low-spin variety like Sasaki’s, a devastating late-breaker like Yamamoto’s or one like Gausman’s that he can command in and out of the strike zone. They can even use it as a show-me off-speed pitch like Kershaw.

Whatever the form, the splitter is here to stay. As it proliferates, perhaps its utility will diminish. Part of its effectiveness, after all, is its relative rarity. For now, though, it’s still a pitch teeming with mystery — there one second, gone the next.

“You can’t hit it,” Kershaw said. “You cannot hit a good split.”

The 2025 World Series is back in Canada for Game 6 on Friday night with the Toronto Blue Jays one win away from dethroning the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Will the Blue Jays finish the deal at Rogers Centre or will the Dodgers find a way to rebound? And who is the World Series MVP through five games?

Our MLB experts break down what Toronto and L.A. must do in the final game(s) of this Fall Classic.

How surprised are you that this series is heading back to Toronto with the Blue Jays up 3-2?

David Schoenfield: Hey, I picked the Blue Jays in seven, and one of the main reasons I went with them has come into play: concern about the Dodgers’ bats. They’re hitting just .201 in the World Series and .236 overall in the postseason (and .214 since the start of the NLDS, while averaging just 3.5 runs per game).

It feels like unless Shohei Ohtani is hitting the ball over the fence, they’re going to have problems scoring runs. Mookie Betts’ struggles are especially problematic: He’s 3-for-23 in the World Series without an extra-base hit or RBI. He has six hard-hit balls (95-plus mph), but only one ball in play at 100 mph, and he’s 1-for-6 in those six plate appearances.

Jorge Castillo: I wouldn’t have been surprised if presented with this scenario before the series started since I picked the Blue Jays to win in seven games. But I thought Toronto was in trouble after not only losing Game 3 in that fashion but losing George Springer to injury. The Blue Jays bouncing back from those two setbacks — beating Shohei Ohtani in Game 4 before Trey Yesavage made more history in Game 5 — was beyond impressive.

Who is the MVP of this series through the first five games?

Jesse Rogers: With all due respect to what young Yesavage did in Game 5, the Blue Jays would have no chance in this series without the contributions of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He’s been the most constant — as well as dominant — hitter on any team this postseason, this series included. That’s saying something considering some of Ohtani’s heroics, but that’s how good Guerrero has been. He’s hitting .364 with two important home runs in Games 4 and 5. He might be your MVP no matter what happens in Games 6 and 7.

Alden Gonzalez: I agree with Jesse on Vlad. But Addison Barger actually has a higher OPS than Vlad in this series, at 1.147. And Alejandro Kirk is right behind Barger at 1.125. And so, even though it’s obviously not possible, I’d like to give the MVP to this entire Blue Jays offense — for doing what the Milwaukee Brewers couldn’t against a dominant rotation, and for showing the Dodgers what is possible against the high-end pitching teams face this time of year.

The Blue Jays have been without Springer over these last couple of games and are playing a very limited Bo Bichette, and yet they’ve outscored the Dodgers by 11 runs in this series and by a whopping 36 runs in the entire postseason. In all three of their wins, they’ve perfectly followed the blueprint to beat this Dodgers pitching staff — make the starting pitcher work, then tee off on the middle relievers.

What do you expect for Yamamoto vs. Gausman 2.0 in Game 6 after their Game 2 pitching duel?

Bradford Doolittle: Yoshinobu Yamamoto is on a roll. The Dodgers’ offense is very much not. That suggests a low-scoring duel and a game decided by one or two runs. The chances of Yamamoto throwing another nine are slim from a pure probability standpoint, and frankly the Dodgers shouldn’t need him to do it with just two more games to cover and the availability of starters like Ohtani and Blake Snell in the bullpen for an all-hands-on-deck Game 7.

After the 15 whiffs in Game 5, the Dodgers will be antsy for contact and it’ll be telling how aggressive they are against Gausman early on. It’s a tough balance. Kevin Gausman will walk guys, but you can’t be too passive with him because he’ll bury you once he gets the edge in a count. It’ll be a great cat-and-mouse game on both sides.

Castillo: Another duel. Yamamoto has been the best pitcher in this postseason and nothing suggests he’s about to get roughed up. A third straight complete game is asking for a lot, but he should give the Dodgers at least a quality start. On the other side, Gausman has been very good in the playoffs and matched Yamamoto in Game 2 until the seventh inning. The struggling Dodgers offense might not need much to support Yamamoto, but Gausman won’t make it easy.

The Blue Jays will be World Series champions if …

Rogers: They simply keep the pressure on at the plate. Despite some stellar moments on the mound for the Dodgers, Toronto’s pesky lineup has caused just enough havoc to earn a series lead. If they don’t get much off Dodgers starters the next game or perhaps two, their ability to add on late against L.A.’s pen is always a threat. Toronto has proven it has the lengthier and better lineup so far. It’s their key to winning this weekend.

Schoenfield: Vlad Jr. keeps hitting bombs. The Jays can win without him — they won Game 7 of the ALCS even though he went 1-for-4 without a run or RBI — but he is, as Reggie Jackson might say, the straw that stirs the drink.

As alluded to above, even if they lose Game 6, at least knocking out Yamamoto and forcing Dave Roberts to use Roki Sasaki will be another key. It feels like if it goes to a Game 7, Roberts’ circle of trust might be limited to starter Tyler Glasnow, Sasaki, Ohtani and maybe Snell. Glasnow has topped out at six innings in his three playoff starts, so if the Blue Jays can at least force Sasaki into Game 6, maybe that limits Roberts’ relief options in Game 7 — or forces him to use someone else from an unreliable bullpen.

The Dodgers can force a Game 7 (and win it) if …

Doolittle: For me, Game 6 is the Blue Jays’ best chance to close out the series. I just like the Dodgers’ pitching outlook for a Game 7 much more, from the starter to the options in expanded bullpens. They have to get to Gausman early on the scoreboard, ideally by stringing some disciplined at-bats together that revs up his pitch count.

I feel like Yamamoto, complete game or not, will pull his weight. But one or two or more of the Dodgers’ struggling stars have to remind us of why L.A.’s offense was such a beast during the regular season, because you can’t count on the Blue Jays’ offense being completely shut down. They are just too consistent.

Gonzalez: Their offense gets back to manufacturing runs. The Dodgers are slashing just .214/.306/.360 since the wild-card round. In that stretch, they’ve scored three or more runs in just three of their 123 half-innings. Two players in particular need to step up: Mookie Betts, who hits between Ohtani and Freddie Freeman but is just 3-for-23 in the World Series; and Alex Call, who will probably replace the struggling Andy Pages in the No. 9 spot once again and who needs to reach base so that the top of the lineup can see more RBI opportunities.

TORONTO — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will consider using Shohei Ohtani as an opener or even as an outfielder in Game 7 if Los Angeles forces the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays to the limit.

The two-way star threw 93 pitches in Wednesday’s 6-2 loss in Game 4 and could be available as a reliever this weekend in Toronto.

However, if Ohtani enters as a reliever after starting the game as a designated hitter, the Dodgers will lose their DH. If he enters as a reliever after starting as a DH, he will need to play a position to remain in the game once his mound appearance is over.

Ohtani can stay in the game as a DH if he also is the starting pitcher.

“I think we would consider everything,” Roberts said Thursday, a day ahead of Game 6. “It’s more of just kind of doing whatever we can to get through tomorrow and then pick up the pieces and then see what’s the best way to attack a potential Game 7. So everything should be on the table and will be, for sure.”

Roberts said he planned to discuss options with Ohtani later Thursday.

Ohtani has never pitched in relief during his Major League Baseball career. He made a handful of relief appearances in Japan for the Pacific League’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, mostly as a rookie in 2013. He closed out Japan’s victory in the 2023 World Baseball Classic final against the United States, striking out then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout for the final out.

Ohtani took on-field batting practice Thursday, which he rarely does, appearing to hit balls off the hotel behind center field.

He is batting .250 with 8 homers, 14 RBIs and 14 walks in the postseason for a 1.109 OPS. He is 2-1 on the mound with a 3.50 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 18 innings.

Ohtani made seven outfield appearances with the Angels in 2021, the year before a rule was changed allowing starting pitchers to stay in games at DH after being removed from mound appearances.