FG on Fox: New Change-Ups in Atlanta

by
May 19, 2014

“It’s the second-best pitch in baseball after the fastball” said Braves catcher Gerald Laird, when talking about the change-up. The arm action is the same as a fastball, the seams come out looking the same, there’s not many release point clues that it’s coming, and then “the ball is just not there.”?

For the first extended period of time, Ervin Santana and Gavin Floyd both feel comfortable with their change-ups. Both starters — acquired by the Braves over the winter — had unconventional offseasons in which they made mechanical adjustments on their own, and both have similar mechanics that may have made it harder for them to develop the pitch before now. But both are trying something new this year.

First, let’s take a look at their new change-ups. Jeff Sullivan wrote about Santana’s in-game strategy with the pitch, so we’ll build from there.

Read the rest on FoxSports.com





 

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. Read him here, writing about the A's or Giants at The Athletic, or about beer at October. Follow him on Twitter @enosarris if you can handle the sandwiches and inanity.

5 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
B N
9 years ago

If smart quotes were really so smart, you’d think they could render themselves properly in HTML…

1
B N
9 years ago
Reply to  B N

Well, I’ll be. Them smart quotes done fixed themselves and now don’t have a bunch of question marks in there…

0