In baseball, the cutter (or cut fastball) is passed along from pitcher to pitcher in a very old school way. This is exactly how Pittsburgh Pirates closer Mark Melancon discovered his go-to pitch. He first learned it from Billy Connors, a pitching coach for a Yankees team that had Mariano Rivera— the ultimate cutter pitcher. Melancon was traded to Houston, where he continued to hone his cutter with Astros reliever Brandon Lyon. Now a key member of the Pirates, Melancon gave an exclusive look at his best pitch with the Dick’s Sporting Goods blog, including a behind-the-scenes video interview.