The pitchers in today’s game have some new tools in their arsenal. Some of these include Los Angeles Dodgers star Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s splitter and Pittsburgh Pirates sensation Paul Skenes’ splinker. Another is New York Mets star Kodai Senga’s forkball.
All in all, each of them is difficult to hit, and all three of the aforementioned pitchers have had huge success since coming into the MLB.
These pitches aren’t something you normally see, so it takes a lot of adjusting and patience to be able to hit these pitches.
However, while Skenes’ splinker has been the talk of the town, MLB Network analyst Mark DeRosa named Senga’s forkball as the most unhittable pitch at this moment.
Paul Skenes Misses the Cut
Yes, Skenes has been incredible, and his splinker is something out of this world.
Paul Skenes, Disgusting 94mph Splinker. 🤮 pic.twitter.com/P5cKLc0xeY
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 11, 2024
Yamamoto’s splitter is also nearly an impossible pitch to hit, especially with its compared to his fastball as seen here.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 95mph Fastball and 93mph Splitter, Overlay.
2 mph difference…with that difference in movement. 😲 pic.twitter.com/Qe0t4t2tQO
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 12, 2025
Still, with those nasty pitches, DeRosa gave the crown to Senga’s one-of-a-kind forkball.
“Kodai Senga’s got an unhittable pitch…When that thing comes out, it’s the most unhittable pitch in the game,” DeRosa said about Senga’s forkball.
"It's the most unhittable pitch in the game…"
– @markdero7 on Kodai Senga's forkball@PitchingNinja | #MLBCentral pic.twitter.com/bdamETXyjP
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) April 24, 2025
Athletics star Brent Rooker talked about Senga’s fastball. “It looked like a fastball for 53 feet, and the last seven feet it just turbo dives into the dirt…It’s a fastball until it’s not.”
Senga’s forkball stats were then displayed on the screen.
- 22 hits in 193 at-bats
- One home run allowed
- 127 strikeouts
- .114 opponent batting average
- .145 opponent slugging percentage
- 56.8 percent whiff rate
Here’s that pitch in action.
Kodai Senga, Unfair 3 Ghost Fork K…with 2 Swords. 😳👻🍴⚔️⚔️ pic.twitter.com/DCHi2WRZ3J
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 19, 2025
Senga joined the Mets in 2023 on a five-year deal worth $75 million, and he went 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA but made just one start in 2024 due to an injury.
In 2025, he has already gone 3-1 with a 0.79 ERA and 20 strikeouts, and he had 202 strikeouts during his first MLB season.
In 2023 spring training, Mets slugger Pete Alonso faced Senga and had no comparison for his forkball: “I have nothing to base it off of. It’s like its own pitch. It’s a pretty good one,” Alonso said in reference to Senga’s forkball and ghost fork pitch that he has coined in his career.
Alonso even struck out twice against Senga that year, so that shows how dangerous that pitch is.
So, in the current age of some different pitches that we haven’t seen much of, DeRosa gives the crown of most unhittable pitch to Senga’s forkball, and not to discredit Skenes or Yamamoto in any way.