As you can probably tell, I love the changeup and love teaching it. Put your thumb on the bottom of the ball and your middle and ring fingers together. A sinking two seam fastball does that, except its usually moving inside on a RH batter, not away. *This article may contain product links which pay me a small commission if you make a purchase. We need 2 cookies to store this setting. Kyle Hendricks is proving he's an above-average strikeout pitcher. This sinking, running action is critical in giving the hitter not only a speed change to try to figure out, but also a moving pitch to content with. Pitchers who use four-seam grips need a large velocity gap between their fastball and changeup, looking at the table shown above. Pull the string! But with a changeup, the feedback I give while playing catch with a pitcher is different. Phillies kyle hendricks changeup grip - businessgrowthbox.com But, a -8% changeup must have tremendous movement to be effective. But, then again, does it matter? Next. If youbelieve adding velocity could be critical to your success,check out my proven programsfor pitchers of all ages. When you learn to throw a changeup, the grip is about half the equation. Milwaukee starter Corbin Burnes won the NL Cy Young last year and was supposed to be the. I hear a lot about wrist pronation and Im concerned about risks of that motion for a 12 yr old. We prefer the 3 finger grip because we find it easier to control. He also ranks second in the. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Kyle Hendricks' Changeup . A relaxed hand applies spin more fluidly and evenly, and allows the pitch to more closely resemble a fastball at release. You should be tinkering with this grip and any other you try and see what works best for you to produce the best possible result. I filtered out the changeups over 85 mph because they are most likely slow sinkers. Emma: Why Kyle Hendricks' Early Struggles Are Concerning Another quick question, then Ill let you go. Where he separates himself is with the Cut Change, which has a combination of movement and velocity that makes it hard to classify. Practice is key, but to throw a changeup really well, we want to employ some strategies. Thats an 8-mph differential between two pitches that follow the same trajectory. Fosh changeup? All picks and predictions are suggestions only. Too many pitchers throw too many pitches. His fastball command issues led to four walks in less than three innings. My All-Time favorite was Johan Santana, though his relied more on greater speed change (15% or so) than movement. At the same time, it is such a small number that it might just be a result of their Pitch F/X algorithm falsely classifying 111 of his pitches as two-seamers. His other stuff is elite. kyle hendricks changeup grip - bayaninstitute.net 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. Kyle Hendricks purposefully cuts his changeup sometimes. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. Pinedas offspeed pitch is thrown with a two-seam grip (the main photo in this post shows his changeup grip). Kyle Hendricks Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com Kyle Hendricks Position: Pitcher Bats: Right Throws: Right 6-3 , 190lb (190cm, 86kg) Team: Chicago Cubs (majors) More bio, uniform, draft, salary info 2016 World Series ERA Title 28 Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. Just head to www.Rawlings.com and enter coupon code CRESSEY20 and youll receive 20% off on your order. And, unfortunately, it ended too early. Kyle Hendricks: Cubs starter improving strikeout rate - Sports Illustrated The changeup is especially hard to learn because it doesnt have an easily-observed break like other pitches. Kyle Hendricks, left, and Alexi Pappas as Dartmouth freshmen, in a photo from Pappas. In this development stage, he wants to get ahead of hitters before mixing it in. We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. As a side note, my students rarely bounce changeups while they learn them, because the grip I teach provides a relaxed hand. Others choose pitch types that just dont make sense, which I cover in the video below. If you want to develop faster, and train better, you need the best gear. 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. The Modern Changeup: The Best New Pitch In Baseball Yankees 4, Nationals 2: Walk-off Wednesday, The Yankees Top 10 Prospects: No. 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. By movement, it's almost exactly average. The dawn of the tech era has increased what we can take away from spring training. The ball is gripped deep in the hand, balanced and held loosely. Its an effective pitch pretty much anytime its thrown, but throwing a changeup in fastball counts is the most effective. RHP Kyle Hendricks assigned to Iowa Cubs from Tennessee Smokies. We need 90mph arm speed with a 79-83mph output. Id say Stephen Strasburgit has such crazy sink and armside run, Im not sure how anyone ever hits it. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Baseball is interesting . Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive Instant Access to a 47-minute Presentation from Eric Cressey on Individualizing the Management of Overhead Athletes! One of the tools used by the Cubs is known as an Edgertronic camera. What allows this to be possible is the grip and hand action, both of which play equal parts in reducing the velocity output. If you work hard practicing it and improving over time, yours will have similar movement to the changeups thrown by Kyle Hendricks and Johnny Cueto. Required fields are marked *. Hendricks throws a sinker and changeup within 7-8 mph of one another. Instead, their two-seam fastball velocities are given. check out my proven programs for pitchers of all ages, check out my proven programsfor pitchers of all ages. The goal is to not make the hand tense by stretching the pink or index down the ball this is why making a circle with the index finger is detrimental, at least on this grip, as it will make the whole hand tense. The problem is that he doesnt throw a two-seam fastball to go along with his two-seam changeup. 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. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website. Feedback is crucial in figuring out which versions are good and which are bad, and without it, the pitch wont improve because the percentage of good vs bad changeups wont skew in the right direction. Prospect Retrospective: Kyle Hendricks, RHP, Chicago Cubs Faster changeups were more effective; slower were much more effective. No one should expect to make money from the picks and predictions discussed on this website. This tactic is HUGE and is a major reason why the changeup is so effective. He is 15-7, the third hardest-to-hit pitcher in the National League, and he ranks 2, 2 and 2 in on-base percentage-against, slugging percentage-against and OPS-against. 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! Theo Epstein called Yu Darvish and Kyle Hendricks the "foundation" of the Cubs rotation. Still, it is something to think about going forward for Pineda. The best changeups feature the following: James Shields is one of the best examples. Thats a big step, veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks said. Kyle Hendricks entered his Sunday Night Baseball start on June 19 against the Pirates never having registered a double-digit strikeout game in his 57 starts. Hendricks has a conventional change that gets unconventional whiffs, perhaps because he shows identical arm speed or has some deception in his delivery. youve got little chance of doing damage off him. If the ball is held by the thumb, it keeps it down longer, reducing the likelihood the fingers will hook it into the ground. Spring training is, after all, a time to work through timing issues. All advice, including picks and predictions, is based on individual commentators opinions and not that of Minute Media or its related brands. Marshall threw his two-seam fastball similar to this Edgertronic footage, but from a left-handed release. And according to Hendricks, he grips it similarly. We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. As for the changeup, Steele wanted a bigger drop in velocity from his fastball. Youll learn everything you need to know to throw one that sinks and runs with great deception and arm speed. At the 50-second mark in the video above, theres an example of this grip from an Edgertronic camera. A four-seamer that cuts slightly and works best against right . Effective circle changeups can reduce the platoon split a pitcher will experience. 10? Your email address will not be published. But Scherzer dominated, limiting opponents to a .126 average in at-bats ending against the pitch - 12 points lower than deGrom's average. The power finger, or [index finger], is off the ball, Marshall said. The changeup used to be a significant part of Verlander's arsenal, but he began relying on it less and less as his slider became more of a weapon. I recently discovered that the same principle seems to work for slider movement, which is actually hugely important. I have one collegiate pitcher who throws the pitch with a 15% reduction, no decrease in arm speed, and heavy, fork-ball like sink with no lateral movement whatsoever. Ive lost count of how many Ive read a report that says a pitcher throws a straight change and that he uses the pitch for the same effect. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted It was extremely helpful. Watch below to see if this is the type of pitch youd like to learn. 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. You want something with different speed, Marshall said. 04/02/2013. One of the biggest frustrations for pitchers new to the changeup is that they bounce it too much. Sink is good, right? 10 best single-season performances in the last decade, Cubs should keep close eye on non-tender candidate Cody Bellinger, Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side, Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters, Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot, Cubs: Its time to start thinking about potential September call-ups, MLB.com had a team of writers pen a piece on the games nastiest changeups. In the meantime, subscribe to my Podcast, titled Dear Baseball Gods and find me on Instagram @coachdanblewett. by Handedness, R.A. Dickeys Unique Stuff and Conventional Problems. This pitch, in comparison to the deGrom one above, exhibits how a changeup's effectiveness isn't about how fast or slow one is thrown, but rather how well it plays off a pitcher's fastball. 15% will throw get the same speed reduction with predominantly lateral movement, and another 15% will get the same speed reduction, but only sinking movement. His reliance on movement and location could, at least in theory, help him age better than someone whos sole focus on the mound is blowing heaters past opponents. Its critical to remember that early on in the learning process, bouncing your changeup will be somewhat normal. Simply head to www.Rawlings.com and use the code, CRESSEY20, at checkout and youll save 20% off your order! the arm pronates on every single throw its not possible to not pronate. Ive seen five different sources call one particular pitch five different things, so I figured a cut change was some grizzled old coachs slang for a circle changeup. Kyle Hendricks Just Did Something He's Never Done Before with Changeup Alternatively, switching to a four-seam grip might save his offspeed pitch if he can find a way to take some velocity off of it as well. He had been between about 195 and 205 pounds, generally, and feeling good. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. Kyle Hendricks, Cubs Hendricks leaned on his changeup heavily and threw it 932 times, nearly double Scherzer's 548. But, this is just another iteration of his changeup, a different way for a him to manipulate hitters. From there, they can decide to alter the movement profile of the pitch by tweaking its release. Changeups that start and leave from the fingertips do not gather as much spin, and often fly too straight or flat.. The changeup should also sink and run, which is movement to the pitchers armside of the plate. What is 'seam-shifted wake' and why is it important to Kyle Hendricks But what about James Shields heavily-sinking changeup? You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page. Pitchers who haven't reached puberty should not throw breaking pitches competitively due to their lack of muscle, ligament and bone development. SUMMARY 2022 Career WAR 0.5 The ball comes out in a unique way, with a tumbling spin rather than an angled axis. How much should I be concerned. Instead, hes thrived on the tactics long employed by a former Cubs ace, Greg Maddux, in control and movement. The thumb is the pressure point, and its location on the bottom of the ball is crucial. It wont matter what kind of firepower the likes of Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Kyle Schwarber, Willson Contreras and Anthony Rizzo bring to the table if this group cant keep opponents off the board. So technically, it does break. The speed difference is significant, but the difference in their running action is nearly zero. Condition 2: The ball must be held stable with as little pressure as possible. By his mid-30s, Verlander had all but abandoned his fourth pitch. (Its no surprise that Zack Greinke has the lowest sinker spin in baseball this season. Its not as cool-looking to throw with your buddies. How To Throw a Changeup with Cubs Pitcher Kyle Hendricks The average velocity differential was 11.1 mph. Dartmouth's Hendricks Is Chicago's Brainy Ace. Jun 9, 2022 26 Dislike Share Chicago Cubs 206K subscribers Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks talks about when in his career he developed what he calls his most important pitch: the changeup. Edgertronic cameras can capture images at over 2,000 fps. A circle change and a straight change are two different pitches, right?? There was even a sign that once read pitch lab in progress at Sloan Park. The Professors sparkling career continues to improve. **According to Pitch F/X, Chris Sale and Zach Davies didnt throw any four-seam fastballs in 2016. And, dont forget to sign up for my free newsletter, using the form below. Make sure youre throwing a repertoire that fits your body, your arm slot, your pitching style and age level. Category Baseball Content, Podcasts | Tags: Baseball Training, Chicago Cubs, Cressey Sports Performance, Elite Baseball Development, elite baseball development podcast, Kyle Hendricks, Pitching Coach, Pitching Mechanics, 2023 Cressey Training Systems, LLC Privacy Policy | Terms of use kyle hendricks changeup grip Kyle Hendricks joined the Chicago Cubs in a franchise-altering trade 10 But cutters are usually about two miles slower than a pitchers fastball, while this Cut Change is almost 10 mph slower than Hendricks fastball. It gets confusing. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. personal pitching pitcher changeup changeup grip cubs chicago cubs mlb fastball kyle hendricks sinker < back to my photo gallery alvinalexander.com is owned and operated by Valley Programming, LLC "My changeup was similar, but I wasn't establishing my fastball down in the zone." Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. #cubs #mlb #pitching2022 MLB Strikeout Reels playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYkCwy6ah6d_xXaI7mM8OIIIr7AeW0zuA2022 College Baseball Strikeout Re. After that, its up to the pitcher to put in the time and dedication honing the pitch and learning how to pitch with it. And, in part three, well discuss the difference in how you pitch with the modern changeup. I wonder why? Hendricks threw his changeup 58.2% of the time in two-strike counts, registering a whiff rate of 17.9% in those situations . Baseball is interesting and odd, especially . The velocity data doesnt help a ton, but by movement, you can see it. Not so much. What is an appropriate age? High school and college pitchers should try to master just three pitches. Otherwise you will be prompted again when opening a new browser window or new a tab. Lets sum up those two pitches by movement and results so we can get a better sense of them. Situational pitching is huge. I wrote an article on Elitebaseballperformance.com on the same topic, so check that out as well. I had this conversation with a friend of mine who is a scout and former Big Leaguer. Work for full arm extension to the plate on the follow through just like on the fastball. Hendricks' changeup became more productive alongside it. does st martin parish have school tomorrow. We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. An Introduction to Seam-Shifted Wakes and their Effect on Sinkers And technology like Edgertronic cameras can help us appreciate his success more than ever. This allows coaches like Tommy Hottovy or Craig Breslow to examine the minutia of how a pitcher releases a pitch. "That's a big step," veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks said. There are a few conditions that result in more reliable hand action and spin application, which are made difficult or impossible by certain grips. But, breaking balls are typically the slider, curveball and cutterpitches that their primary purpose is to break by curving or cutting. Two distinct clusters. Gerrit Coles first spring start comes against Detroit. 1 Anthony Volpe, The 25 Most Surprising Seasons in Yankees History. Hey, thanks for the article! But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. His arsenal has included a fastball around 88 mph, a changeup at 80, a sinker to deceive between his heater and off-speed and. Learning how to maximize the effect of the pitch, and minimize its weaknesses is what takes a pitcher to the next level. If his two-seamer and changeup come out of the hand and tunnel the exact same way, youve got little chance of doing damage off him. It sounds like a cutter to me but thats not a pitch that is associated with sinking. The slider doesnt really fit the Cut Change by either velocity or movement, but it is closer on velocity at least. In fact, his changeup whiff percentage this year is second only to Cole Hamels among starters that have thrown the pitch more than 150 times. Breaking pitches are slower than fastballs not because they are thrown with less intensity. If a changeup is dead-straight, being closer to a 12% reduction is ideal (79mph off a 90mph fastball). Jacob deGrom's Changeup and the Nastiest Pitches From 7/24 A left-handed pitcher's circle change will break down and away from a right-handed batter. Switching grips could save Michael Pineda's changeup Though this works quite well for him, it's not the standard version for most pitchers, for one main reason: pitchers need a pitch that breaks away from opposite-handed hitters. Hendricks is predominantly a sinker (42.4 percent of his pitches in 2019) and changeup (27.8 percent) pitcher, mixing in the four-seamer and curve as well. Its just gonna be a game-changer for him, Hendricks said. For a pitcher who throws 90mph, this is about 7mph off, or 83mph. When thrown the above way, we will reliably achieve a 10% (plus or minus) speed reduction that can easily be repeated at any intensity. Among 112 pitchers who have thrown at least 50 sinkers or two-seam fastballs entering Mondays slate of games, Hendricks is tied for the fifth lowest average spin rate (1878 rpm). Kyle Hendricks changeup How to grip a change up The ball is gripped deep in the hand, balanced and held loosely. Rob Friedman on Twitter: "@dcor_25 Greg Maddux's two seam grip and Condition 4: To accomplish the above, the thumb must be on the bottom of the baseball. Steele retired all six Padres batters he faced, then headed to the bullpen to throw 25 more pitches. Hendricks earned the moniker because of his artful pitching and uncanny resemblance to Maddux. But, this is just another iteration of his changeup, a different way for a him to manipulate hitters. Or, if all else fails, we can just say screw it and just throw a splitter; thatll work as a poor-mans changeup. Hes looked really good, Ross said of Steele. In 2016, he threw his changeup 8.5% of the time, according to Pitch F/X data. Follow him on Twitter @enosarris if you can handle the sandwiches and inanity. They, together, accomplish this task of applying spin and speed over and inward on the ball. Dan, I was a Baseball Ops consultant for the Red Sox and did an analysis of changeup effectiveness. He consistently beats a higher FIP. Vulcan change? He is the owner of a 3.12 ERA, which is among the best in all of baseball. Dropping the hand and elbow and short arming across the body. It was interesting to find out that it was an entirely different pitch. My pitchers dont spike changeups very much. The slow-motion setting on an iPhone captures at 240 frames per second (fps). When force is applied to the center of the baseball, the baseball will come out hard, because all of the available arm speed is going into propelling the ball forward and applying backspin. The grip will be the same and the arm and hand action applies just the same no matter the age of the player. kyle hendricks changeup grip. And, what grip will get him there? AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. Call it what you will, its a different pitch. We reduce speed because less force is applied to the center of the ball; we are converting speed into spin just like a breaking pitch. Lawmakers and others should not seek to undo laws meant to protect people from gun violence. His thought? A sleeper who woke up: Kyle Hendricks, RHP, Chicago Cubs The average movement of 3 to 3.5 was least effective. The wrist and hand are pronated a little early which stops the wrist from popping forward. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Hendricks achieved a season high in curveball usage (25%) and whiffs (5), finishing off two hitters with the pitch. But today, well bust some changeup myths and give you all the tools to throw a great one. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. The harder a changeup is thrown, the more it matches fastball arm speed, and initially fools the hitter into thinking that 90mph arm speed = 90mph output. There. The grip might differ slightly, but the way spin is applied, which may be the biggest factor in throwing a breaking pitch, is largely the same. 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. Should we credit Kyle Hendricks for being clutch? Excellent explanations Dan. But it's not like Hendricks abandoned the contact game, either. He reminds me of Brad Lidge, who threw a slider that appeared to have mostly downward movement. So, we need a combination of the hand being as relaxed as possible while still being held securely. This is because, when on the bottom, it can hold the ball firmly in place against the bottom bridge of the fingers. by Retrosheet. By Alexi Pappas. More and more pitchers in the Major Leagues are throwing changeups with hard sink and run. Its important to understand WHY a changeup is slower. And it was very little! Kyle Hendricks of the Chicago Cubs was a bright spot for the Wrigleyites this summer. This converts some of the arm speed into spin, which reduces the balls speed in the same way as a curveball or slider (except the spin is applied to the opposite side of the ball). Cubs manager Ross says Hendricks' stuff is better than ever - Daily Herald 12? Part of the reason Hendricks achieves this much drop is due to his ability to kill spin. He keeps his arm speed exactly the same, Marshall said. Learn how your comment data is processed. The hand action provides the second 4.5mph, and that action is the same as a sinker, and somewhat opposite of a slider: pronating the hand on the inside of the ball just before release. And, how about some arm-side run? Twitter: https://twitter.com/cubs Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cubs/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cubs/ Snapchat: http://Snapchat.com/add/Cubs TikTok: http://bit.ly/3jRYPkM The grips here will help you create action, organically reducing stress forces on the elbow and shoulder. Watch the short video below to see what I believe is the modern changeup: If all other parameters are equal, a pitch that has movement is harder to hit than a pitch that is straight.