Required fields are marked *. I know he had great stuff and his pitches had tons of movement but he constantly struggled with command his entire career. * 21+ (19+ CA-ONT) (18+ NH/WY). Where he separates himself is with the Cut Change, which has a combination of movement and velocity that makes it hard to classify. You try to tell the difference when he tunnels those two pitches.". I told him, Dad strength it happens immediately, right?. Read him here, writing about the A's or Giants at The Athletic, or about beer at October. Love the video. Your email address will not be published. At least, thats what Chicago is hoping as theyve got Hendricks locked up through 2023 with a vesting option for 2024, his age 34 season. Click on the different category headings to find out more. Too many pitchers throw too many pitches. x-mov is in inches, with negative denoting movement towards the rightys arm-side. We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. If you can just mix that in there, its gonna make his stuff even better.. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. Besides advising Hendricks to sharpen an edge, Budner adjusted the grip on a changeup that eventually became his most effective pitch. In part two of this changeup article series, Ill cover a step-by-step method of teaching and throwing the modern changeup. This offer is only valid on select items, but theres a ton of great gear youll save 20% on that will help you become a better player, so shop now! Copyright - EliteBaseballPerformance.com, Part of The Advanced Continuing Education Institute -. 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 change up is more effective in college and pro baseball because the hitters are stronger, more aggressive and can handle a good fastball. 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. The way I teach the modern changeup in this article, it will produce movement to the armside, with sinking action as well. 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 September, Eno Sarris at FanGraphs wrote a great article entitled What Can Hitters Actually See Out of a Pitchers Hand? The Fade Change is on the left, the Cut Change is on the right. As a side note, my students rarely bounce changeups while they learn them, because the grip I teach provides a relaxed hand. 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. Hey, thanks for the article! Even many major league pitchers are successful with three basic pitches. When these harder breaking pitches finally do move off the fastballs path, it makes them appear to break more suddenly, sharper, which in turn makes them more difficult to square up. Now Available! The average movement of 3 to 3.5 was least effective. The answer depends on the other big half of the equation: movement. kyle hendricks changeup grip. "Going JUCO" - Is Playing NJCAA Baseball a Risky Move? 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. 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.. He knows he hasn't looked like "The Professor" that . When Hendricks is on, weve seen this in action. And he replaces it with his ring finger you let the changeup grip do the work.. 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! 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. Simply head to www.Rawlings.com and use the code, CRESSEY20, at checkout and youll save 20% off your order! 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. Several years before Kendrick started throwing his cut change I had came across the pitch in the Minor League Scouting Notebook. Steele and his girlfriend, Libby Murphy, are expecting their first child, a boy, in July. 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. Mixing in a few two-seamers might improve the effectiveness of his changeup as it is. Faster changeups were more effective; slower were much more effective. Pingback: "Going JUCO" - Is Playing NJCAA Baseball a Risky Move? Right-hander Kyle Hendricks starts during a spring training game March 4, 2014, between. Hendricks has a conventional change that gets unconventional whiffs, perhaps because he shows identical arm speed or has some deception in his delivery. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. Kyle Hendricks assigned to Tennessee Smokies from Daytona Cubs. This is likely the only thing changeup throwers all agree on. To follow proper form, a pitcher releases the ball while keeping his wrist straight, then follows through fully. 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. Essentially, its no different than a slider or cutter Think about Noah Syndergaards extra-hard slider, and how hard it is to hit. Condition 1: Pressure must be at the junction of the palm and fingers, not on the fingertips. You can check these in your browser security settings. Youd be forgiven for calling the Cut Change a slider. Upon release, the fingers are lifted off the ball, the ball rolls up the fingers. We DONT want pressure to be on the fingertips, but rather at the very bottom of the fingers. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. Changeups that start and leave from the fingertips do not gather as much spin, and often fly too straight or flat.. Throwing a changeup when a hitter expects fastball is a great way to get a quick rollover ground ball for an out. By Alexi Pappas. Phillies A circle change and a straight change are two different pitches, right?? 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. 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. For his career, Verlander's changeup has posted a 16% SwStr% and 46% GB%. And, straight? The changeup is the most historically misunderstood baseball pitch. Three-finger? And technology like Edgertronic cameras can help us appreciate his success more than ever. 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. Spring training is, after all, a time to work through timing issues. Cubs lefty Justin made his third start of spring training against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday. As for the changeup, Steele wanted a bigger drop in velocity from his fastball. They, together, accomplish this task of applying spin and speed over and inward on the ball. You bet. Online baseball performance training programs for youth and advanced players! 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. Where you place your middle and ring fingers is VERY important they work together to apply the proper spin, to get the pitch to rotate much like a discoball does. Kyle Hendricks purposefully cuts his changeup sometimes. The wrist and hand are pronated a little early which stops the wrist from popping forward. This is why we need a defined hand action that converts speed into spin. In short, Hendricks changed the grip of his curveball back during his Cy Young-caliber 2016 season, from a four-seam grip to a two-seam grip, in an effort to build up some increased confidence in a pitch he wasn't using as often as he probably should've been. By movement, it's almost exactly average. Last year, he used the breaking ball 9.5 percent of the time. Kyle Hendricks of the Chicago Cubs was a bright spot for the Wrigleyites this summer. By movement, its almost exactly average at least its a little slower than most changeups, but so is his 89 mph fastball. 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. They throw very different speeds, so its best to think of a changeup as having a scaling, percentage-based speed reduction: 10% or so. His excellent strikeout numbers and walk numbers, combined with his below average ERA have perplexed many, with a few explanations floating out there. Controlling the Running Game: Should Young Pitchers Slide Step? Suddenly, Kyle Hendricks is a three-pitch guy, with an elite change, a good slider, and good command of a good sinker. 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. This is because, when on the bottom, it can hold the ball firmly in place against the bottom bridge of the fingers. Lay the middle and ring fingers together between the two-seams, with the thumb on the bottom pointing right at them. In this free 47-minute presentation, you'll learn: Written on December 18, 2019 at 4:51 am, by Eric Cressey. The ball is held deeper by the middle and ring fingers, which are less powerful as a combination than the index and middle. June 7, 2022 . What allows this to be possible is the grip and hand action, both of which play equal parts in reducing the velocity output. But, breaking balls are typically the slider, curveball and cutterpitches that their primary purpose is to break by curving or cutting. Forcing the fingers down the sides of the baseball are one of a few culprits that cause undue hand tension. Both his whiff rate and his Adjusted Contact Score are. What Causes A Mental Meltdown in Baseball? 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. Hook em horns grip? Releasing the ball too much from the side caused by turning the hand over too much. 08/01/2012. You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page. 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. . And, we welcome your suggestions for future guests and questions. The thumb is the pressure point, and its location on the bottom of the ball is crucial. This second 5% is important not only in reducing the pitchs speed, but in also making the the changeup sink and run to the armside. Last updated: July 27, 2020 Chicago Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks throwing a sinker (sinking fastball) and changeup. One of the tools used by the Cubs is known as an Edgertronic camera. One of the biggest frustrations for pitchers new to the changeup is that they bounce it too much. Marshall threw his two-seam fastball similar to this Edgertronic footage, but from a left-handed release. The ball should rest up against the top ridge of the palm or at the base of the fingers. But with a changeup, the feedback I give while playing catch with a pitcher is different. A fastball count is a count when its a little more high-risk to throw an offspeed pitch (which are harder to control). The velocity data doesnt help a ton, but by movement, you can see it. When they do, the brain apparently defaults to the average changeup. It just wont get hitters out on their front foot enoughthe speed change wont be enough to really throw off their timing. 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. Straight changeups are sooooo old-school. He strikes out right-handers regularly with that thing. We need 90mph arm speed with a 79-83mph output. If the pitcher can develop a good change up, his fastball will appear faster and the hitters will be less aggressive. Your email address will not be published. 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. Because any slower than this and the arm has to begin slowing downits very rare to see pitchers throw a pitcher much slower than 10-12% with their normal delivery and full arm speed. Thats a big step, veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks said. But his changeup looks like the exact same pitch only it comes in even slower, at 78.6. It takes a lot of skill to make it to the Majors, and a great offspeed repertoire is part of that. Either way, it is hard not to feel like Pineda is one small adjustment away from something special. strength and conditioning for baseball and softball. If the thumb is not beneath the ball, as in the circle change grip, the fingertips will tense up to prevent the ball from simply falling out of the hand. The odd thing about Hendricks is that his changeup actually spins more than his fastball, roughly 300 rpm more on average in 2020. Dont set the grip until the ball is hidden in the glove just before the hand break. We all know that Hendricks has a first rate changeup, but it may surprise some to learn exactly how good it is. Gerrit Coles first spring start comes against Detroit. Learning how to maximize the effect of the pitch, and minimize its weaknesses is what takes a pitcher to the next level. 23 for '23: Who steps up for Cubs in wake of the Seiya Suzuki injury? This allows coaches like Tommy Hottovy or Craig Breslow to examine the minutia of how a pitcher releases a pitch. The change up is supposed to be. very good and useful article I thank you. The end goal, rather, is a mis-hit or swing and miss. Even with consistency in teach methods, there will be an inconsistency in output. But, a -8% changeup must have tremendous movement to be effective. Theres too many questions, too much confusion with the changeup. Palm ball? Hendricks throws a sinker and changeup within 7-8 mph of one another.

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