![]() What if there was a way to throw a changeup without heavy pronation? Not only is it physically different for my arm, but it’s hard to repeat something differently when you’re doing three pitches with one way.īut Boyd may have found a loophole. Boyd had this to say in the “big results” interview I cited at the top of this post: In prior years, Matthew Boyd was one of the many pitchers who found it uncomfortable to throw a changeup because it was so different from the rest of his mix. The work that pitchers are doing with changeups to “add another look” might also be described as “building an insurance plan.” But changeups are hard to throw If a pitcher falls in the “40 to 50 percent slider” group that Gausman is referring to, it might be time to learn one. Gausman technically throws a split, but the changeup falls in the same low-spin, non-sticky, offspeed family. ![]() So I can’t use ‘sticky.’ Now, if I was a guy that primarily threw 40 to 50 percent sliders, I would probably be trying to search for some way to find that (extra grip)… “If I use ‘sticky’ on my split, it cuts,” he said. Where would a post-sticky world leave pitchers? Is there a pitch that thrives on a lack of spin? Ask Kevin Gausman: “Sticky” makes a slider spin tighter and break more than it otherwise would, and MLB is doubling down on an effort to remove it from the game. Here’s the biggest reason the changeup might be about to make a comeback. There’s a recent development that could kill the slider’s upward trajectory, though: a ban on a popular ingredient that makes a slider slide.Ĭan MLB stop ‘sticky stuff’ use? Players weigh in on new enforcement measures According to Pitch Info, more sliders were thrown last year than 2-seam fastballs were. This upward trajectory has pushed the slider into “primary pitch” territory. ![]() In a decade, slider usage has increased by 70%. And it is hard to overstate how significant sliders have become. His answer to that adjustment will be throwing those left-handed hitters more changeups.īassitt throws a cutter, but the same logic could be applied to sliders. S he’s continued developing his cutter, Bassitt’s noticed left-handed hitters cheating to the pitch and trying to yank it into right-field on him. Chris Bassitt’s mix fits this mold and he thinks changeups are his solution: Hitters gameplan just like pitchers do and can usually key in on a preferred pitch/location when they’re facing a mix that only breaks one direction (say, a 4-seam/slider combo). Given how many breaking balls we see nowadays, I do think there is something to that argument. Most of these pitchers claim to be working on changeups to give hitters a different look from the breaking ball-heavy mixes that are featured in today’s game. Is this year different?ġ, here are two reasons why we should take pitchers seriously this year when they talk about throwing more changeups. But either way, I’d like to look ahead and suggest that this year, a changeup revolution might really be coming. ![]() So is there any reason to believe the headlines? Is Verlander trolling us? Maybe. Case in point, Justin Verlander may indeed be emulating Nolan Ryan, but he has only thrown 8 changeups in 154 tagged pitches in Spring Training this year. Usually, I’d say not to take the reports too seriously - every spring, pitchers claim they’re throwing more changeups and then don’t follow through. Pitchers who didn’t touch them last year are apparently breaking them out now. New changeup has Boyd boasting big resultsĬhangeups. Mariners’ Logan Gilbert adding a split-finger: ‘It’s going to be a phenomenal pitch’ Paul Blackburn experiments with changeup in spring debutĮxpect to see more of Kopech's 'unreal' changeup Why Mets star Justin Verlander is emulating Nolan Ryan and dabbling with a changeup For those who were glued to the WBC, I’d like to bring you up to speed on a developing non-story from Spring Training camps.
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