Aside from slowing the arm or hand down, or not finishing the pitch, theres no reliable way to reduce the speed of a changeup when force is applied through the center. Before leaving to join Team Israel, Cubs prospect Matt Mervis shared why this WBC means so much to him. Hitters often ask me what the pitch is, because the movement is so significantit had a lot of screwball-type qualities. This was awesome insight thanks so much for sharing! You can do so HERE. Whicker: Cubs' Kyle Hendricks proves speed is overrated A combination of arm-side movement, known as run, and sinking movement. The least effective velocity differential was 11.1 mph. Today, well focus on the elusive third pitch. Its a small blue box, a little bit bigger than a wallet that captures images at extremely high frame rates. 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The version I threw in college and pro ball moved as much as both of these accomplished MLB pitchers. Hendricks runs his fastball up to 94 MPH, mixing in a slider, curve, and changeup. We reduce speed because less force is applied to the center of the ball; we are converting speed into spin just like a breaking pitch. But what about James Shields heavily-sinking changeup? The grip will only account for a 5% speed reduction when force is applied to the center of the baseball. He keeps his arm speed exactly the same, Marshall said. Kyle Hendricks is proving he's an above-average strikeout pitcher. Looking at the table, most of the pitchers who (I think) throw their changeups with a two-seam grip also happen to throw two-seam fastballs. In his first 13 major league starts, Hendricks went 7-2, 2.46 in 80 innings, with 72 hits allowed and a 47/15 . After that, its up to the pitcher to put in the time and dedication honing the pitch and learning how to pitch with it. Phillies "I just didn't have it last year," Hendricks said. Per Brooks Baseball, Hendricks gets a lot of swings-and-misses and a ton of popups when he puts the changeup in the lower part of the strike zone. when he made 13 starts and ran off a 111/7 strikeout-to-walk mark. His reliance on movement and location could, at least in theory, help him age better than someone whos sole focus on the mound is blowing heaters past opponents. You can also change some of your preferences. This is because, when on the bottom, it can hold the ball firmly in place against the bottom bridge of the fingers. I was too busy trying to find the fastball, he said with a smile. We also create a reliable movement pattern for the hand, creating relatively equal parts sink and lateral movement. 10,000+ people already dosign up now! I filtered out the changeups over 85 mph because they are most likely slow sinkers. Pinedas offspeed pitch is thrown with a two-seam grip (the main photo in this post shows his changeup grip). Kyle Hendricks benefits from best pitch-framing in baseball Mining the News (2/27/23) | RotoGraphs Fantasy Baseball I use a simple step-by-step approach to teaching the pitch the cornerstone of which is watching and giving constant feedback on ball spin. Check to enable permanent hiding of message bar and refuse all cookies if you do not opt in. Hendricks rotates the ball backwards less than 90 degrees, allowing his two fingers to sit right below the horseshoe (the right side of the split screen at the 50-second mark). If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. But it's not like Hendricks abandoned the contact game, either. Sign up for the Marquee Sports Network Newsletter today to catch all the latest news and sports stories. Cubs lefty Justin made his third start of spring training against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday. 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. Circle change? With his 70-72 mph changeup, he creates an even larger speed differential.. So, its less visually fun to throw for young players and gives less feedback as well. That way, even throwing it to their Mom or Dad, a pitcher can feel for good and bad changeups and consistently reinforce his good habits. Hendricks grip is one of the factors that allows him to kill as much spin as possible and achieve this above-average sink. Upon release, the fingers are lifted off the ball, the ball rolls up the fingers. The main criticism. Steeles slider and curveball are his go-to secondary pitches, resulting in whiffs 29.3% and 34.6% of the time last season, respectively, according to Baseball Savant. He strikes out right-handers regularly with that thing. His thought? Kyle Hendricks joined the Chicago Cubs in a franchise-altering trade 10 When the batter is ahead in count - 1-0, 2-1, or 2-0, When a hitter is trying to pull or is out in front of the pitches. When they do, the brain apparently defaults to the average changeup. Kyle Hendricks Has Two Changeups | FanGraphs Baseball At the same time, it is such a small number that it might just be a result of their Pitch F/X algorithm falsely classifying 111 of his pitches as two-seamers. Dan, I was a Baseball Ops consultant for the Red Sox and did an analysis of changeup effectiveness. As a high school pitcher under Wright's direction, Hendricks added a changeup. When you learn to throw a changeup, the grip is about half the equation. Common theories as to why he isnt pitching at an ace-caliber level include poor fastball command, a lack of a third pitch, and not attacking the corners as much with runners on base. This is the first article in a 3-part series on throwing the modern changeup. Oct 11, 2017 Do you have a picture/video of Maddux's 2 seam grip? There is no one way to skin this cat! Though this works quite well for him, it's not the standard version for most pitchers, for one main reason: pitchers need a pitch that breaks away from opposite-handed hitters. Tension and fingertip pressure will result in the pitcher hooking the pitch into the ground more often. Dont try to get too much backside drive and hip rotation into the pitch. Prospect Retrospective: Kyle Hendricks, RHP, Chicago Cubs Lets sum up those two pitches by movement and results so we can get a better sense of them. 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. By his mid-30s, Verlander had all but abandoned his fourth pitch. 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. strength and conditioning for baseball and softball. Well, we have some good news for you. Whats the best way to start throwing this critically important pitch? The more speed we remove, the more the pitch must deviate from a fastballs initial trajectory, thus making it look less like a fastball out of the hand. Eight? Design by DAYO, *I hate spam too, only the best for my subscribers, CSP Elite Baseball Development Podcast: Kyle Hendricks, I will never spam you or share your email, Why different athletes need different approaches to power development, Why its essential that you learn to train outside the sagittal plane, Which medicine ball and plyometric variations I use with baseball players, Why not all throwers have identical deceleration patterns or training needs, How your arm care programs can be improved to reduce the risk of injury and improve throwing velocity, Why Kyle chose to move across the country out of high school and attend Dartmouth College, How Kyle has developed his ability to manipulate the baseball to create movement, How Kyle worked diligently to develop his changeup and how players can better develop this feel pitch, How throwing a quality changeup actually helped Kyle learn to throw a two seam fastball, How grip, specifically pinky position on the baseball, impacted the effectiveness of his changeup, What Kyles thought process is when throwing his changeup and how late hand speed out front trumps early, forced pronation with the pitch, How Kyle developed a cut changeup, which is differentiated from his regular changeup, How Kyle approaches attacking hitters and why he emphasizes throwing first pitch strikes and controlling counts against hitters, Why Kyles four seam fastball usage increased in 2016 and why this change allowed him to have more margin for error and improve the effectiveness with his fastball, How Kyle learned to read swings and bat paths in pro ball and how this has influenced how he competes against hitters, How Kyle prepares by utilizing coaches scouting reports along with video to develop a plan for success against the opposition, Why Kyle has always been intrigued by the mental side of baseball and how he has used it to develop an edge in the game, How simplification has revolutionized Kyles ability to master his mentality, control the game, and play to his highest ability, Why Kyle works to find a balance between using analytics and relying on his intuition, What pitch clicks in the bullpen when Kyle is set to have a great game and how Kyle knows when he is locked in, How Kyle attacks throwing his various pitches in his daily throwing progression, How individuals who lack elite velocity can identify their strengths and learn to separate themselves from the competition, Avoid the most common deadlifting mistakes. The ball is gripped deep in the hand, balanced and held loosely. I searched for extreme examples of each so that we could best see the difference, so the one on the left had 11 inches of arm-side fade, while the one on the right had two inches of glove-side cut. Hendricks doesn't throw his fastball 90 mph, and yet deGrom can run his changeup up to 93 mph. Like fastballs, changeups can be thrown with either a four-seam or a two-seam grip. The dawn of the tech era has increased what we can take away from spring training. With a new grip on his curve, even Kyle Hendricks can't contain his 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. Youth pitchers 14 and under should concentrate on developing the fastball and learning to throw it to spots, plus learning to change speeds on the pitch. The hand pronates inward, slightly, before release. Tyler Chatwood seems likely to rejoin the rotation after a year of serving in a swingman role, alongside southpaw Jose Quintana and the elder statesman of the group in Jon Lester. Suddenly, Kyle Hendricks is a three-pitch guy, with an elite change, a good slider, and good command of a good sinker. This converts some of the arm speed into spin, which reduces the balls speed in the same way as a curveball or slider (except the spin is applied to the opposite side of the ball).