Offspeed
Airbender (Airbender Changeup)
A changeup that spins like nothing else in the game and dives sideways off the plate after looking like a fastball out of the hand. One pitcher built it; nobody has copied it.
The grip
A Vulcan-style changeup choke — the ball wedged between the middle and ring fingers — thrown with extreme wrist pronation and deliberate seam contact, with the exact pressure points kept proprietary to Williams.
FanGraphs and the MLB.com explainer describe the grip as Vulcan-like with heavy pronation; the precise finger-pressure mechanics are Williams' own and not publicly specified, so this is analyst characterization rather than an official grip spec.
What it does
It carries far more spin than any other tracked changeup, and that spin sends it sweeping so hard to the glove side — wider than the plate itself — that it dives off the zone after reading as a fastball out of the hand.
The extreme spin and the wide glove-side sweep are Statcast-measured and corroborated by FanGraphs and the MLB.com explainer; described here as shape only, never as a measured number.
What it really is
Not a new pitch class — it is a changeup, specifically a Vulcan/split-finger-grip changeup pushed to an extreme spin profile through pronation and seam contact; "Airbender" is the nickname for Williams' individual version, not a separate pitch.
Who throws itDevin Williams (Milwaukee Brewers, then New York Yankees, then New York Mets)
Basic file
This pitch has a sourced one-line grip and movement and an honest explanation — not yet a filed specimen with authored grip geometry and a full craft chapter. A fuller breakdown is coming. Sourced, not corrected.