Brandon Mann Addresses a Bevy of Miami Marlins Changeups

Brandon Mann’s playing career was coming to a close when he was featured here at FanGraphs in June 2020. A southpaw whose professional experience spanned 17 seasons — including part of 2018 with the Texas Rangers — he was soon to turn from hurler to tutor. Mann served as a pitching coordinator for the KBO’s Lotte Giants in 2021, then spent the next two years as a trainer and pitching coordinator at Driveline. His last two season have been in Miami. Mann joined the Marlins as a pitching strategist in 2024, and this year he is their bullpen coach.

Given his background and expertise, as well as my being intrigued by some of the talented arms on the Miami pitching staff, I made it a point to catch up with Mann when the Marlins visited Fenway Park in mid-August. I wasn’t sure exactly what we’d talk about, but I knew that it would be a good pitching conversation. We ended up focusing on changeups and splitters.

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David Laurila: You just told me that Edward Cabrera has a unique changeup. What makes it stand out?

Brandon Mann: “The most unique part is how hard it is [94.2 mph, per Baseball Savant]. The movement profile is similar to a sinker, although it has a little bit more depth than sinkers in general. It’s really more of the spin. Say he throws a changeup and a sinker and both are 96 [mph]. The movement profiles would be almost identical, but the changeup is going to fall off more because it’s got as much as 600 fewer rpm. That’s super unique.

“I don’t know if the movement gives it justice when you actually see… say it’s three [inches] of induced vertical break and 16 [inches] horizontal — and then he throws a sinker at six and 18. They’re the same velo, and the sinker stays up, but the changeup falls off, and somebody swings and misses at it. A lot of that is the spin component. Again, it’s similar velo, but anywhere from 500 to 600 rpm less spin.

“You stand in there and see this pitch, and it looks like it’s dropping this much, and you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s got to be negative IVB’ — but it’s actually [positive] two IV? It just feels like you’re standing in there with a hellacious splitter, or something like that. Again, he throws it very hard. That’s what’s crazy. I think he has the hardest changeup in Statcast history.”

Laurila: Sandy Alcantara has a changeup. How does his compare to Cabrera’s?

Mann: “It’s not as firm [90.5 mph], and the spin is slightly higher [2,092 rpm, compared to 1,753 for Cabrera]. I believe Cabby has more extension [6.6 feet] than Sandy [6.1]. They have slightly different arm angles. But I mean, Sandy has a very good changeup, as well.”

Laurila: Does Eury Pérez throw a changeup?

Mann: “He does, but it’s still a work-in-progress. Eury has massive hands, so finding the right orientation, the right grip… and he’s also so young. He’s 22 years old and developing in the big leagues. He’s doing a phenomenal job of that— he’s got a unicorn fastball that’s one of a kind — but the hand size does make it a little bit more tricky. The ball is deep in the hand, so the orientation can change the movement because of the size of his hand.

“Say we’re in a standard two-seam orientation. My hands are normal sized, so it’s easy to line it up to be the same every single time. His fingers are probably an inch or two longer than mine, so with the ball being deeper in his hand, it’s not necessarily coming off the fingers consistently every single time. Unless you have extreme proprioception of your fingers to make it work on a consistent basis, it might come off a little differently.

“Guys with big hands are great candidates for a split-finger fastball, so that may get explored at some point. But his changeup has been really good at times. Again, his fastball is so unique that the current changeup he’s working on has been able to produce some pretty good results. It’s a matter of getting more consistent with it.”

Laurila: Who else on the staff has a notable changeup?

Mann: “I really like Lake Bachar’s split. It pairs off of his other pitches extremely well, and he’s comfortable throwing it to both righties and lefties, which gives it versatility. The beauty of the split is that you just grip it and rip it. You find the right seam orientation, then grip and rip. You believe you’re throwing a fastball with that grip, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a righty or lefty in the batter’s box. That’s the mentality he has when he’s out there throwing it.

“Ronny Henriquez has a really good changeup. The movement profile is fantastic. He could get it in the zone a little more, though. It’s just a chase pitch for him.

“Ryan Weathers’ is really, really good. I’m a big fan of his changeup. He’s one of the few lefties out there who is very comfortable throwing it left-on-left. When you have the ability to go to the same hand, inside, with your changeup, it opens up a lot for your other pitches. Changeups do that in general.”