FG On Fox: Nine Things to Know about the Best Changeup in Baseball

by
July 18, 2014

If the baseball season ended today, an awful lot of people would be awfully confused, and the Seattle Mariners would qualify for the playoffs. There’s no bigger reason for the Mariners’ success than Felix Hernandez, and there’s no bigger reason for Felix Hernandez’s success than his changeup. Felix featured his change as the American League’s starting pitcher in Tuesday’s All-Star Game, and here’s that pitch putting away Yasiel Puig:

FelixPuig

Here’s that pitch putting away Troy Tulowitzki:

FelixTulo

Good hitters, both of those. Good pitches, both of those. By this point Felix is a household name, and it’s no secret that he offers a dominant changeup, or cambio. He’s been throwing the pitch for years, for almost exactly as long as he’s been a Cy Young contender.

But sometimes it isn’t enough to just know something. With Felix pitching as well as he ever has, it seems like a good time to get more familiar with the best pitch he throws, that’s also one of the best pitches in the league. Let’s review some facts about the Felix Hernandez changeup.

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Read the rest at Just A Bit Outside.





 

Jeff made Lookout Landing a thing, but he does not still write there about the Mariners. He does write here, sometimes about the Mariners, but usually not.

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dang
11 years ago

“Felix’s whiff rate has been 46%, and his groundball rate has been 71%.”

I’d like to see a few other numbers – hitter’s swing rate, and foul rate of the pitch. Specifically trying to figure out – of the KFC’s (king felix changeup) swung at, how many of them are not grounders, whiffs, or foul balls?

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