The changeup was traditionally just a pitch that was slowerit was straight and slower, that was it. 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. He then provides tips and tricks for how to throw a changeup and make it an effective part of your pitch mix.Tickets for all 2022 regular season games are on sale now: https://www.cubs.com/tickets Follow us! But, we need to do this at a 100% intensity, which is difficult. The ball is held deeper by the middle and ring fingers, which are less powerful as a combination than the index and middle. Certain items are excluded, but theres still a ton of great baseball training gear to make you a better player and coach. They put up a .903 OPS against Pinedas offspeed pitch, and it didnt seem to matter if he located it down and away against lefties: Pinedas poor changeup shouldnt come as a surprise. There is one more thing that stands out when looking at the movement of his fastball and changeup. If you can just mix that in there, its gonna make his stuff even better.. Would love to compare - similar movement 2 Rob Friedman @PitchingNinja Replying to @dcor_25 Greg Maddux's two seam grip and changeup grip. So, we need a combination of the hand being as relaxed as possible while still being held securely. Hes a little bit higher up on the horseshoe [of the baseball].. 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. very good and useful article I thank you. And, what grip will get him there? Just head to www.Rawlings.com and enter coupon code CRESSEY20 and youll receive 20% off on your order. From my years pitching professionally, my experience has been that the more movement a changeup has, the harder it can be thrown. By movement, it's almost exactly average. Maybe this was unique to Clement. This episode is brought to you by Rawlings. Situational pitching is huge. Righty-on-righty changeups? . Despite ample legal trouble, Sizemore had steady film and television credits. These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. 10? We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. The hand pronates inward, slightly, before release. Thats always a plus. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. When you have a successful changeupyoure not trying to slow down your body at all.. So, its less visually fun to throw for young players and gives less feedback as well. He rarely walks anyone, strikes out enough to get by, and will induce weak contact. 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. But, this starts with education on what a changeup is and why it does what it does. Spring training is more important than you think. As it turns out, the changeup method I teach is incredibly easy to learn for pitchers of all ages, and it starts with the grip. Several MLB hitters claimed to be able to read the spin of pitches, which might be impacting the effectiveness of Pinedas changeup. MESA, Ariz. Cubs lefty Justin Steele came into camp 20 pounds heavier and with a new changeup in his arsenal. Less movement begins to resembled the mythical gyroball and apparently fools MLB hitters who pick up the spin. The ball is gripped deep in the hand, balanced and held loosely. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. Edgertronic cameras can capture images at over 2,000 fps. 07/16/2013. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. "Hendricks sits at 86.7 mph with his two-seamer (slower than some of the other changeups picked here). We maximize lateral spin application by forcing the ball to roll up the fingers before finally releasing off the fingertip. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. How can you get the same movement/action using two different grips? We prefer the 3 finger grip because we find it easier to control. Lawmakers and others should not seek to undo laws meant to protect people from gun violence. In September, Eno Sarris at FanGraphs wrote a great article entitled What Can Hitters Actually See Out of a Pitchers Hand? Cubs Spring Training Notebook: A leadoff option emerges. Watch below to see if this is the type of pitch youd like to learn. This article from Forbes details whiff rate for 2019 MLB pitchers, so check it out to learn about some of the best MLB changeups from last year. This LHP throws a straight change, he turns it over and it sinks away from RH batters. Whats up with this?! Casey Sutherland may have just 12 games of experience with the Red Sox, but he has already shown dominance while fulfilling a childhood dream. Condition 4: To accomplish the above, the thumb must be on the bottom of the baseball. *This article may contain product links which pay me a small commission if you make a purchase. The incredible thing about Hendricks is that in his Game 1 quality start in Mondays doubleheader, neither his sinker or changeup were his best pitch. I filtered out the changeups over 85 mph because they are most likely slow sinkers. Lots of amateur players and parents have this question. No, Im not blowing smokeIve taught lots of pitchers over the years, and its not hard to produce a heavy sinking changeup. Unsurprisingly, Hendricks' changeup was the runaway . If the thumb cradles the ball from the bottom, the rest of the hand can be almost completely relaxed. The change up is supposed to be. Mine would sink so much that from the dugout (side view) it was often mistaken for a slider or curveball by teammates (atta boy, nice curveball!). Sink is good, right? Kyle Hendricks entered his Sunday Night Baseball start on June 19 against the Pirates never having registered a double-digit strikeout game in his 57 starts. 1 ago. I taught myself how to throw a changeup in my junior year in college, and it became my best pitch in pro baseball. 12? The Mets had a prospect in their system with a solid repertoire but he was having trouble adding an off speed pitch. My All-Time favorite was Johan Santana, though his relied more on greater speed change (15% or so) than movement. But what about James Shields heavily-sinking changeup? The changeup grip I teach in this article is very easy to learn and produces a heavily-sinking changeup with armside movement. And, straight? So I wanted to come into this season with a little extra weight on me, so that when I start losing weight throughout the season, Ill be ready for that.. In 2016, he threw his changeup 8.5% of the time, according to Pitch F/X data. I did it earlier today, when I called him a two-pitch pitcher. Jun 9, 2022 26 Dislike Share Chicago Cubs 206K subscribers Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks talks about when in his career he developed what he calls his most important pitch: the changeup. The grip helps us remove speed from a changeup while simultaneously applying spin to it. But, thats much more of a thing Big Leaguers do to stay effective, and much less the rule we teach an amateur or minor leaguer who needs consistency more than anything. However, this doesnt necessarily mean that Pineda should switch grips. You want something with different speed, Marshall said. The hand pronates inward, slightly, before release. x-mov is in inches, with negative denoting movement towards the rightys arm-side. There should be no difference in the way a little leaguer or other youth pitcher throws a changeup, as compared to a high-level or Big Leaguer. Its not as cool-looking to throw with your buddies. When they do, the brain apparently defaults to the average changeup. ""Hendricks sits at 86.7 mph with his two-seamer (slower than some of the other changeups picked here). Most people just arent on board with this yet. the arm pronates on every single throw its not possible to not pronate. 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. Were excited to welcome Chicago Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks to this weeks podcast. The frustrating righty could definitely use a third pitch. SUMMARY 2022 Career WAR 0.5 "That's a big step," veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks said. Even many major league pitchers are successful with three basic pitches. It was awesome. This week, MLB.com had a team of writers pen a piece on the games nastiest changeups and you can be sure Hendricks name showed up on said list. Pingback: How to Throw a Curveball - The Definitive Guide, Pingback: Here are The Best Pitching Drills for Young Players in 2021. Kyle Hendricks is proving he's an above-average strikeout pitcher. Hendricks threw his changeup 58.2% of the time in two-strike counts, registering a whiff rate of 17.9% in those situations . Hendricks runs his fastball up to 94 MPH, mixing in a slider, curve, and changeup. In this free 47-minute presentation, you'll learn: Written on December 18, 2019 at 4:51 am, by Eric Cressey. There are many times when we pitchers get away with a changeup that was thrown a little too hard because late movement caused it to fade off his barrel at the last moment. The average velocity differential was 11.1 mph. Now Available! When Hendricks broke out in 2016, it was keyed by catching coach Mike Borzello and advanced scouting and run prevention coordinator Tommy Hottovy showing him data that he was becoming. Hendricks, in a way, sacrifices that extra killed spin on his changeup for a nearly identical arm slot and release point to his sinker, creating a superb amount of deception. Hes done all this despite lacking the overpowering velocity that most teams aces boast. The ivy league educated. As a side note, my students rarely bounce changeups while they learn them, because the grip I teach provides a relaxed hand. Click on the different category headings to find out more. His fastball command issues led to four walks in less than three innings. Remember this: Even though this site describes a method of throwing five or six different pitches, it does not mean any pitcher should attempt to learn or throw all these pitches. Most pitchers cant throw an effective changeup, curveball or slider. 23 for '23: Who steps up for Cubs in wake of the Seiya Suzuki injury? Today, well focus on the elusive third 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%). I don't view the change up as a strike out pitch, but a pitch that is miss timed causing weak contact. I also loved Felix Hernandezs changeup and Kyle Hendricks as well. Dont set the grip until the ball is hidden in the glove just before the hand break. 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). Copyright - EliteBaseballPerformance.com, Part of The Advanced Continuing Education Institute -. 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. So technically, it does break. If we cut our changeup, how does it vary from a slider? Last year, he used the breaking ball 9.5 percent of the time. Cubs facing a bleak situation with the luxury tax in 2020. dark. Because he's both upped his usage and . A special thanks to this shows sponsor, Rawlings. If they want to learn to throw a changeup well, they need feedback. Gambling problem? My pitchers dont spike changeups very much. Though a straight change perhaps looks exactly like a straight fastball (thus making it very deceptive), pure deception isnt the end goal. Alternatively, switching to a four-seam grip might save his offspeed pitch if he can find a way to take some velocity off of it as well. Steele and his girlfriend, Libby Murphy, are expecting their first child, a boy, in July. Ive only encountered this a few times and Matt Clement was one pitcher I recall reading about that could run his sinker away from RH batters if he kept it down in the zone. Put your thumb on the bottom of the ball and your middle and ring fingers together. Condition 3: Overall hand tension must be as low as possible. By his mid-30s, Verlander had all but abandoned his fourth pitch. Just remember: even the nastiest pitch still needs to be thrown at the right time in an at-bat to maximize its effectiveness. And he replaces it with his ring finger you let the changeup grip do the work.. Last updated: July 27, 2020 Chicago Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks throwing a sinker (sinking fastball) and changeup. Heres what David Adler had to say about the right-handers elite offspeed stuff. I wonder why? He keeps his arm speed exactly the same, Marshall said. When a pitch is thrown harder, it flies longer along the same trajectory as a fastball. And technology like Edgertronic cameras can help us appreciate his success more than ever. To add to the positive changes in his life, Steele is expected to break camp in the Cubs rotation or, as manager David Ross put it Tuesday morning, Steele has a strong chance of doing so. Among 112 pitchers who have thrown at least 50 sinkers or two-seam fastballs entering Mondays slate of games, Hendricks is tied for the fifth lowest average spin rate (1878 rpm). All picks and predictions are suggestions only. Kyle Hendricks' changeup. In theory, getting more movement on his changeup shouldnt be a bad thing. Even with consistency in teach methods, there will be an inconsistency in output. Several years before Kendrick started throwing his cut change I had came across the pitch in the Minor League Scouting Notebook. Kyle Hendricks, left, and Alexi Pappas as Dartmouth freshmen, in a photo from Pappas. He limits baserunners (both via hit and walk) and home runs, leading to a solid ERA. Hendricks has a conventional change that gets unconventional whiffs, perhaps because he shows identical arm speed or has some deception in his delivery. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. 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. If it can be a more effective weapon, maybe Sunday night's 14 percent usage is a sign of things to come this year. A changeup should be slower than a fastball by 10-12%, which means if you throw 70mph, a changeup should be 7-8 miles per hour slower (62-63mph). The result has caught the attention of Hendricks, who relies heavily on his own changeup. Like fastballs, changeups can be thrown with either a four-seam or a two-seam grip. He consistently beats a higher FIP. The dawn of the tech era has increased what we can take away from spring training. To follow proper form, a pitcher releases the ball while keeping his wrist straight, then follows through fully. 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You can check these in your browser security settings. And I was able to, so it was good to end on that note.. Three-finger? When thrown the above way, we will reliably achieve a 10% (plus or minus) speed reduction that can easily be repeated at any intensity. Kyle Hendricks purposefully cuts his changeup sometimes. Kyle Hendricks assigned to Tennessee Smokies from Daytona Cubs. This allows the ball to roll farther off the fingers as its released, increasing spin. I dont want my son to end up straining. Learning how to maximize the effect of the pitch, and minimize its weaknesses is what takes a pitcher to the next level. This is why we need a defined hand action that converts speed into spin. Changes will take effect once you reload the page. We DONT want pressure to be on the fingertips, but rather at the very bottom of the fingers. This sinking, running action is critical in giving the hitter not only a speed change to try to figure out, but also a moving pitch to content with. But his changeup looks like the exact same pitch only it comes in even slower, at 78.6 mph. As a high school pitcher under Wright's direction, Hendricks added a changeup. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. But cutters are usually about two miles slower than a pitchers fastball, while this Cut Change is almost 10 mph slower than Hendricks fastball. Theres too many questions, too much confusion with the changeup. Six miles per hour? Kyle Hendricks' Changeup . Online baseball performance training programs for youth and advanced players! Steele has yet to fully highlight the changeup in three spring starts. 04/02/2013. Or, if all else fails, we can just say screw it and just throw a splitter; thatll work as a poor-mans changeup. At the 50-second mark in the video above, theres an example of this grip from an Edgertronic camera. 0 0 Less than a minute. Overturning the wrist to make it. The way I teach the modern changeup in this article, it will produce movement to the armside, with sinking action as well. Thats an 8-mph differential between two pitches that follow the same trajectory. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. And, dont forget to sign up for my free newsletter, using the form below. Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks waves as he leaves the field following a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Monday, Sept . Max Scherzers slider is the poster child. 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. Gloveside changeups for called strikes? If so, then stick with me! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Dan, I was a Baseball Ops consultant for the Red Sox and did an analysis of changeup effectiveness. He wasnt particularly bad at locating his changeup, as shown by a heatmap from FanGraphs: However, hitters were particularly good at hitting his changeup. He strikes out right-handers regularly with that thing. A four-seamer that cuts slightly and works best against right . When you learn to throw a changeup, the grip is about half the equation. Not to mention he has a baby on the way. The wrist and hand are pronated a little early which stops the wrist from popping forward. Otherwise you will be prompted again when opening a new browser window or new a tab. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Follow him on Twitter @enosarris if you can handle the sandwiches and inanity. 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. Yankees 4, Nationals 2: Walk-off Wednesday, The Yankees Top 10 Prospects: No. For all other changeups, as movement decreases, speed change must proportionally increase. Either way, it is hard not to feel like Pineda is one small adjustment away from something special. We prefer the 3 finger grip because we find it easier to control. The changeup is the most historically misunderstood baseball pitch. Id say Stephen Strasburgit has such crazy sink and armside run, Im not sure how anyone ever hits it. 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. This pitch, in comparison to the deGrom one above, exhibits how a changeup's effectiveness isn't about how fast or slow one is thrown, but rather how well it plays off a pitcher's fastball. Hook em horns grip? 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. On the follow through, collapse the body slightly. There. Baseball is interesting . He throws strikes and has a sense on how to pitch, and looks like a sleeper prospect to me. Marshall threw his two-seam fastball similar to this Edgertronic footage, but from a left-handed release. Required fields are marked *. Fellow right-hander Yu Darvish is certainly capable of making hitters look foolish, but hell need to hone in on the consistency we saw from him in the second half of last year, when he made 13 starts and ran off a 111/7 strikeout-to-walk mark. Love the video. when he made 13 starts and ran off a 111/7 strikeout-to-walk mark. Hendricks is predominantly a sinker (42.4 percent of his pitches in 2019) and changeup (27.8 percent) pitcher, mixing in the four-seamer and curve as well. His repertoire made him more of a pitcher than a thrower, making Wright wary whether pro scouts eventually would. With a phone full of pictures of pitchers' fingers, strange beers, and his two toddler sons, Eno Sarris can be found at the ballpark or a brewery most days. This is crucial, as yes, any changeup grip could work, but not all grips will help a pitcher easily spin the ball and produce excellent movement. 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. The lesson was to concentrate on deception, command, and movement and accept whatever velo differential comes with it, and not to worry about it. This is not to say they miss up the in zone; rather, they are able to control the ball in the strike zone most of the time, with the same frequency as their fastball, with fewer egregious misses. Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks talks about when in his career he developed what he calls his most important pitch: the changeup. We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. This allows coaches like Tommy Hottovy or Craig Breslow to examine the minutia of how a pitcher releases a pitch. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses cookies. In the meantime, subscribe to my Podcast, titled Dear Baseball Gods and find me on Instagram @coachdanblewett. We get about 5% from the grip itself, and 5% from the hand action. According to Pitch F/X data, Pineda gets five more inches of horizontal movement on his changeup than on his fastball. ), Hendricks sinker has a little bit different of a grip, Marquee Sports Network analyst Sean Marshall said. 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. As a pitching coach,one of my biggest tasks is overhauling a pitchers off-speed pitches. This is crucial, as yes, any changeup grip could work, but not all grips will help a pitcher easily spin the ball and produce excellent movement. His thought? The basement of speed change is about 8%. Hendricks achieved a season high in curveball usage (25%) and whiffs (5), finishing off two hitters with the pitch. The changeup should also sink and run, which is movement to the pitchers armside of the plate. In fact, his changeup whiff percentage this year is second only to Cole Hamels among starters that have thrown the pitch more than 150 times. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. Hendricks' grip is one of the factors that allows him to kill as much spin as possible and achieve this above-average sink. With his pitch count climbing in the second inning, the Cubs took advantage of spring-training rules, pulling him with two outs and then putting him back in for the third inning. Instead, hes thrived on the tactics long employed by a former Cubs ace, Greg Maddux, in control and movement. Youd be forgiven for calling the Cut Change a slider. Ross has not yet announced the order. He knows he hasn't looked like "The Professor" that . Terms at draftkings.com/sportsbook. 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. Faster changeups were more effective; slower were much more effective. If a changeup is dead-straight, being closer to a 12% reduction is ideal (79mph off a 90mph fastball). Oct. 22, 2016; In 2008, my freshman year at Dartmouth, I lived on the third floor of Fahey . We all know that Hendricks has a first rate changeup, but it may surprise some to learn exactly how good it is. Circle change? If we compromise on a goal of 10% speed reduction, which will be ideal for the majority of pitchers, we need to understand how we obtain that reduction. Call it what you will, its a different pitch. Its not easy developing a great changeup (or any offspeed pitch for that matter). Part of the reason Hendricks achieves this much drop is due to his ability to kill spin. port melbourne football club past players. 1 - Kyle Hendricks (Cubs) - 19.7% Whiff rate, 62 Adjusted Contact Score For my money, Hendricks throws the best changeup in the game. Kyle Hendricks knows he's struggled the last two seasons. For a RHP looking at the back of his hand, and the ball as a clock, place the thumb at 7 oclock, the little finger at 5 oclock and the first 3 fingers on top of the ball at 11, 12, 1 oclock. A combination of arm-side movement, known as run, and sinking movement. With his 70-72 mph changeup, he creates an even larger speed differential.. Eight? Since making his big league debut with the team back in 2014, youve never had to wonder what you were going to get every fifth day.