Tunneling

What does tunneling mean in baseball?

Throwing different pitches with a similar trajectory to fool hitters

In baseball, tunneling is when a pitcher attempts to throw pitches with similar trajectories to make different pitches appear the same (even though they break differently) to fool the hitter. The name comes from the idea that before the pitches start to break, they pass through a narrow "tunnel" to appear the same.

For example, a pitcher may be able to throw a curveball, slider, and sweeper. When pitching, he throws the different pitches through the imaginary tunnel, making it hard for the batter to distinguish how it will break and hit the ball.

Example

Lopez is doing an excellent job at tunneling to fool the hitters tonight
Yeah, he's caused a lot of swings and misses
Tunneling graphic on Reddit
Tunneling graphic on Reddit

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Updated October 12, 2023

Tunneling definition by Slang.net

This page explains what the slang term "Tunneling" means. The definition, example, and related terms listed above have been written and compiled by the Slang.net team.

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