A splitter is a type of pitch in baseball that is thrown with the effort of a fastball, but it drops sharply as it nears home plate. It is an off-speed pitch that is thrown with a wide grip, causing it to spin significantly less than a fastball. The low spin rate causes the pitch to have serious drop when thrown correctly. The splitter is often referred to as a "split-finger fastball," but it doesnt hold much in common with a typical fastball. It is generally thrown in the same situations that would see a pitcher throw his breaking and off-speed pitches. The splitter is a relatively uncommon off-speed pitch, but it is still used with some prevalence.

Pitchers throw a splitter by gripping the ball with their two fingers split in a "V" shape on opposite sides of the ball, often even on the outside of the seams. With its deceptively slower velocity and sharp drop, a splitter is designed to get the hitters bat ahead of the pitch and induce weak contact. Because of the way the splitter is gripped, it will "tumble" out of the pitchers hand with low spin. The splitter evolved from the forkball, and the two pitches are gripped in almost the same way, except a splitter is generally held with more ease and placed toward the fingertips.

The splitter is a great pitch to play off of a 4-seam fastball. The difference in vertical drop and how well it tunnels off of a pitcher’s fastball will cause it to disrupt hitters timing to cause swing and misses and ground balls. The splitter is a relatively rare pitch in Major League Baseball, representing only 2.1% of pitches thrown in 2023. However, it is more effective than other pitches such as the slider, sweeper, curveball, or changeup.