The Art of The Changeup
The changeup; one of the simplest pitches to throw but the most difficult to perfect. The changeup is a pitch that any pitcher from little league onward has learned to throw. The concept of the changeup is simple; change velocities to disrupt the hitters timing. However, in the big leagues there is much more to the changeup than the basic premise. The changeup is all about maintaining the same arm speed, arm action, and release point to achieve maximum deception. In the bigs the changeup is a staple in almost every starting pitcher’s repertoire, while back-end relievers tend to focus on power pitches such as fastballs, cutters, and sliders.
Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes, who are the two favorites competing for the 5th spot in the rotation seemed to have taken notice. Both Hughes and Chamberlain have proved that they can be extremely successful relievers, but in pursuing the 5th spot in the rotation they both have realized that they have to focus on their changeups. Both pitchers have been focusing heavily on their changeups over the first few weeks of spring training. In a brief interview with Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees Blog, Hughes said that his changeup was “priority 1 this spring”. He said he feels comfortable with the velocity of his changeup as well as his arm speed, but he is trying to focus on command of the pitch.
Let’s take a comparative look at Joba’s and Phil’s changeups.
Joba Chamberlain
In 2009 Joba threw 2715 pitches and 4.8% of those pitches were changeups. The average velocity of Joba’s fastball in 2009 was 92.5mph compared to 82.3 mph for his changeup. The difference of 10.2 mph is much greater than the league average of 8 mph difference between fastball and changeup. In 2009 Joba threw 57.4% of his changeups for strikes while getting a swing on 43.4% of his changeups. His whiff percentage on changeups was 12.4% and 17.8% of his changeups were put in play. In 2008 Joba’s changeups accounted for just 2.3% of Joba’s 1695 pitches with an average difference in velocity of 11.5 mph. With a much smaller sample size of just 39 changeups in 2008 Joba threw 64.1% for strikes, got swings on 51.3%, whiffs on 15.4%, and his changeups were put in play 17.9% of the time.
Phil Hughes
In 2009 Hughes threw 1456 pitches and just 0.8% (20 pitches) were changeups. With a small sample size, Phil’s changeups were on average 9.8 mph slower than his fastball (fastball 93.6 mph, changeup 83.8 mph). Hughes’ threw his changeup for a strike just 20% of the time in 2009, with 20% of his changeups being swung at. He also had 0% whiffs on his changeups and 20% of his changeups were put in play indicating that every changeup that he threw for a strike was also a ball that was put in play. In 2008 5.2% of Hughes’ 620 pitches were changeups and the average difference in veloc
ity was 11.2 mph. With a greater amount of changeups thrown in 2008 (32) in less than half the pitches of 2009 Hughes threw his changeup for a strike 34.4% of the time. He also got swings on 31.3% of his changeups, whiffs on 9.4%, and the ball was put in play on 18.8%.
For comparison in 2009 Sabathia threw his changeup 16.7% of the time, Burnett 2.3%, Pettitte 5.4%, and Vazquez 14.1%
While a changeup may not be a necessity for power pitchers like Joba and Phil, it would be a very nice addition to their tool box. The changeup can be used to set up hitters for a high and tight fastball or it can be used to get a week swing on a 2 strike count. Either way, developing a good changeup can do nothing but help Joba and Phil. As much of the focus in Yankees camp is on the battle for the 5th spot in the rotation, the development of both pitchers’ changeups should be looked at very closely. It is clear that overall performance will be the deciding factor in who wins the battle for the 5th spot, but all else equal, the development of their changeups could play a huge role. If everything else is equal, look for the pitcher with the better changeup to be named the Yankees 5th starter going into the regular season. After all, whoever is put into the bullpen won’t be as worried about developing their changeup as they are about blowing a 95 mph fastball by a hitter to end the eighth inning and handing the ball off to the greatest closer of all time.
Who will win the battle for the 5th spot? Will the changeup be a determining factor in who is named the Yankees 5th starter for 2010?
Pitch f/x information from http://www.fangraphs.com/ and http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/
Photos courtesy of Zimbio.com
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