We also create a reliable movement pattern for the hand, creating relatively equal parts sink and lateral movement. He is 15-7, the third hardest-to-hit pitcher in the National League, and he ranks 2, 2 and 2 in on-base percentage-against, slugging percentage-against and OPS-against. Like I said, Ive came across it often so it couldnt be a typo. MESA, Ariz. Cubs lefty Justin Steele came into camp 20 pounds heavier and with a new changeup in his arsenal. The changeup is the most historically misunderstood baseball pitch. After that, its up to the pitcher to put in the time and dedication honing the pitch and learning how to pitch with it. Same scenario but different pitch. According to Statcast, Hendricks got 16 called strikes and 4 whiffs on his fastballs, which is just excellent and a huge reason his changeup netted an impressive 10 whiffs on just 25 offerings (40%). Take a look. What type should a young pitcher aim to develop? Ive read hundreds of scouting reports on pitchers and I had never heard of that pitch. You can also change some of your preferences. If you like what you hear, wed be thrilled if youd consider subscribing to the podcast and leaving us an iTunes review. Just head to www.Rawlings.com and enter coupon code CRESSEY20 and youll receive 20% off on your order. Were ecstatic to announce a new partnership between Rawlings and Cressey Sports Performance, and theyve set up a 20% off discount code on select products for our listeners. Youd be forgiven for calling the Cut Change a slider. Changeups that start and leave from the fingertips do not gather as much spin, and often fly too straight or flat.. This is the first article in a 3-part series on throwing the modern changeup. Josh Breaux becomes the latest Yankee catcher to go down to injury; the Yankees are on the lookout for replacements behind the plate; a profile of super-prospect Anthony Volpe; how players react to becoming Yankees. Thats an 8-mph differential between two pitches that follow the same trajectory. This LHP throws a straight change, he turns it over and it sinks away from RH batters. Whats up with this?! Not technically. As a right-handed pitcher myself, I threw more changeups to lefties, because I didnt want my curveball breaking down and in, into their happy zone. When a pitch is thrown harder, it flies longer along the same trajectory as a fastball. A changeup needs to be thrown with as much intensity as possible. Hendricks' grip is one of the factors that allows him to kill as much spin as possible and achieve this above-average sink. Still, it is something to think about going forward for Pineda. The changeup grip I teach in this article is very easy to learn and produces a heavily-sinking changeup with armside movement. Lets take a look at good examples of both. The means by which Hendricks has found success is well documented. The thumb is the pressure point, and its location on the bottom of the ball is crucial. Ross has not yet announced the order. So you could call him a two-pitch guy. Hendricks struggled in 2021 in large part because he could not establish his fastball down and away and use it to set up his changeup and curveball. He doesnt have much faith in them. The changeup should also sink and run, which is movement to the pitchers armside of the plate. This allows coaches like Tommy Hottovy or Craig Breslow to examine the minutia of how a pitcher releases a pitch. Palm ball? As a high school pitcher under Wright's direction, Hendricks added a changeup. He is the owner of a 3.12 ERA, which is among the best in all of baseball. Either way, it is hard not to feel like Pineda is one small adjustment away from something special. The odd thing about Hendricks is that his changeup actually spins more than his fastball, roughly 300 rpm more on average in 2020. All picks and predictions are suggestions only. This is why we need a defined hand action that converts speed into spin. In my years as a baseball academy owner and professional pitcher, Ive taught this pitch with equally great effect to 11-year olds and 25-year old pros. I have one collegiate pitcher who throws the pitch with a 15% reduction, no decrease in arm speed, and heavy, fork-ball like sink with no lateral movement whatsoever. A typical two-seam fastball is thrown with the index and middle finger between the tracks or where the two seams are narrowest on a baseball. Steele has yet to fully highlight the changeup in three spring starts. The changeup, for no good reason, is confused. Major League and Minor League Baseball data provided by Major League Baseball. At the core of this was a changeup he threw almost twice as often as before, and that changeup was a very weird . Years from now, when we look back on this era of Chicago Cubs baseball, maybe then well realize just how reliable Kyle Hendricks has been. How much should I be concerned. Pingback: How to Throw a Curveball - The Definitive Guide, Pingback: Here are The Best Pitching Drills for Young Players in 2021. A combination of arm-side movement, known as run, and sinking movement. The changeup used to be a significant part of Verlander's arsenal, but he began relying on it less and less as his slider became more of a weapon. Three-finger? 10,000+ people already dosign up now! Ive taught this exact style of changeup to hundreds of pitchers, and 70% will obtain a 10% speed reduction with equal parts lateral and sinking movement. A fastball count is a count when its a little more high-risk to throw an offspeed pitch (which are harder to control). Would love to compare - similar movement 2 Rob Friedman @PitchingNinja Replying to @dcor_25 Greg Maddux's two seam grip and changeup grip. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. NYY vs. DET: Gerrit Cole vs Michael Lorenzen. The change up is more effective in college and pro baseball because the hitters are stronger, more aggressive and can handle a good fastball. When the hitters brain must deal with both speed change and movement away from the initial trajectory of the pitch, the likelihood of weak contact increases. I chewed over this data, which still seemed counter-intuitive, and then calculated what percentage of effectiveness was attributed to velo differential (which is not obvious at all from the numbers in the analysis). We maximize lateral spin application by forcing the ball to roll up the fingers before finally releasing off the fingertip. Though a straight change perhaps looks exactly like a straight fastball (thus making it very deceptive), pure deception isnt the end goal. The Mets had a prospect in their system with a solid repertoire but he was having trouble adding an off speed pitch. Gambling problem? The grips here will help you create action, organically reducing stress forces on the elbow and shoulder. Kyle Hendricks Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com Kyle Hendricks Position: Pitcher Bats: Right Throws: Right 6-3 , 190lb (190cm, 86kg) Team: Chicago Cubs (majors) More bio, uniform, draft, salary info 2016 World Series ERA Title 28 Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. Your email address will not be published. very good and useful article I thank you. Cubs Spring Training Notebook: Swanson's winning mentality, Lester's mark on Steele, Cubs make some spring history. So technically, it does break. No one should expect to make money from the picks and predictions discussed on this website. Ive seen five different sources call one particular pitch five different things, so I figured a cut change was some grizzled old coachs slang for a circle changeup. This usually happens for a few reason: Watch the video below for some more great troubleshooting tips related to bouncing it. Yankees Mailbag: Managing the infield and Domnguez hype. If you work hard practicing it and improving over time, yours will have similar movement to the changeups thrown by Kyle Hendricks and Johnny Cueto. All of which is a lengthy preamble to guide you to the point of this whole piece, which was Hendricks' changeup usage and results from Wednesday. This takes velocity off the ball and creates movement. Baseball is interesting and odd, especially . The grip helps us remove speed from a changeup while simultaneously applying spin to it. But, then again, does it matter? The result has caught the attention of Hendricks, who relies heavily on his own changeup. Not so much. For more information, please read our Legal Disclaimer. Not to mention he has a baby on the way. 23 for '23: What is the Cubs' plan at third base? It was his sparingly used curveball that stole the show, a pitch he altered the grip on during quarantine and has seen improved results compared to last season. The grip will only account for a 5% speed reduction when force is applied to the center of the baseball. Tension and fingertip pressure will result in the pitcher hooking the pitch into the ground more often. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. When and if the 2020 season gets underway, the Cubs will be asking a lot of Hendricks who is irrefutably the go-to guy in the rotation. His arsenal has included a fastball around 88 mph, a changeup at 80, a sinker to deceive between his heater and off-speed and. Kyle Hendricks assigned to Tennessee Smokies from Daytona Cubs. Lots of amateur players and parents have this question. It gets confusing. But what creates that downward movement on Hendricks changeup is, in part, his grip. Learn more. The ball comes out in a unique way, with a tumbling spin rather than an angled axis. 08/01/2012. Hendricks has a conventional change that gets unconventional whiffs, perhaps because he shows identical arm speed or has some deception in his delivery. No, Im not blowing smokeIve taught lots of pitchers over the years, and its not hard to produce a heavy sinking changeup. The change up is supposed to be. Brad Keller and Joe Musgrove reportedly throw their fastballs with a one-seam grip. Kyle Hendricks and Dallas Keuchel have made careers out of their prolific sinkers, and based on 2020 data, it appears as though those pitches have gained additional movement through a SSW. "My changeup was similar, but I wasn't establishing my fastball down in the zone." We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. The end goal, rather, is a mis-hit or swing and miss. Spiking a changeup is caused by the finger tips hooking it into the ground. Its important to understand WHY a changeup is slower. A few of my high school pitchers threw to the Rapsodo device and turned in spin-efficiencies of 90% or better, indicating a very clean diagonal spin axis on their changeups, confirming that what I believed was happening. Pineda's poor changeup shouldn't come as a surprise. Besides advising Hendricks to sharpen an edge, Budner adjusted the grip on a changeup that eventually became his most effective pitch. I was too busy trying to find the fastball, he said with a smile. He had been between about 195 and 205 pounds, generally, and feeling good. Instead, hes thrived on the tactics long employed by a former Cubs ace, Greg Maddux, in control and movement. MESA, Ariz. Cubs lefty Justin Steele came into camp 20 pounds heavier and with a new changeup in his arsenal. It was awesome. Too many pitchers throw too many pitches. Learn how your comment data is processed. But it's not like Hendricks abandoned the contact game, either. The hand pronates inward, slightly, before release. Copyright - EliteBaseballPerformance.com, Part of The Advanced Continuing Education Institute -. Max Scherzers slider is the poster child. The actor suffered a brain aneurysm Feb. 18 at his Los Angeles home and died in his sleep Friday at a hospital in Burbank, California, his manager said. Heard Hendricks is thinking of changing his name. If the middle and ring finger are apart, they start to work against each other, causing the ball to have inconsistent spin that often cuts. It wont matter what kind of firepower the likes of Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Kyle Schwarber, Willson Contreras and Anthony Rizzo bring to the table if this group cant keep opponents off the board. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. If Michael Pineda never puts it together, no one will ever be able to say that it was due to a lack of effort from internet analysts trying to diagnose his problems. But, this is just another iteration of his changeup, a different way for a him to manipulate hitters.