[cardcrimson]

But Sergio didn't throw a "sweeper":
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-pl...tching-mlb

Love Bob Melvin's take on it:
https://apnews.com/article/sweeper-pitch...e13519174f

Love that Baseball Savant site. Incidentally, your Bob Melvin link notes that Ottavino learned it from Sergio Romo: "Ottavino also credited former Giants reliever Sergio Romo for his sweeper, saying it provided some inspiration."

KNBR also thought Romo threw a sweeper:
https://www.knbr.com/2023/03/20/how-serg...e%20Giants.

Still love Melvin's take on it:
"A few seconds later, Melvin was asked a simple question: What exactly is a sweeper? “I don’t know,” Melvin said, laughing. “It’s new-age baseball talk. A slider’s probably got a little more depth and the sweeper probably comes across a little more. I’ve made that joke, too. I still write it down as a slider.”

"It's new-age baseball talk". Perfect.

When did people actually start using the term? My guess would be this season or last at the earliest. . . .

[cardcrimson]

But Sergio didn't throw a "sweeper":
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-pl...tching-mlb

Love Bob Melvin's take on it:
https://apnews.com/article/sweeper-pitch...e13519174f

Love that Baseball Savant site. Incidentally, your Bob Melvin link notes that Ottavino learned it from Sergio Romo: "Ottavino also credited former Giants reliever Sergio Romo for his sweeper, saying it provided some inspiration."

KNBR also thought Romo threw a sweeper:
https://www.knbr.com/2023/03/20/how-serg...e%20Giants.

Still love Melvin's take on it:
"A few seconds later, Melvin was asked a simple question: What exactly is a sweeper? “I don’t know,” Melvin said, laughing. “It’s new-age baseball talk. A slider’s probably got a little more depth and the sweeper probably comes across a little more. I’ve made that joke, too. I still write it down as a slider.”

"It's new-age baseball talk". Perfect.

When did people actually start using the term? My guess would be this season or last at the earliest. . . .