To hear Jays lefty Brad Mills tell it, the changeup is the greatest pitch in baseball.
Mastering the pitch is all about creating an illusion on the mound. Having a difference of 10 or more miles per hour between one’s fastball and changeup gives both pitches the same appearance, says Mills. Changing speeds makes a fastball look faster, while confusing and throwing off hitters looking to get a read on a pitcher.
The changeup is baseball’s funky pitch, the one sure weapon in every pitcher’s arsenal. And Mills’ lesson underlines a simple truth about the art of pitching: the changeup, in all its forms, is replacing some of baseball’s old-school pitches.
There are more ways to hold a changeup than any other pitch. Every pitcher has a preferred grip, which determines how the ball behaves and where it arrives at the plate. Getting it right is all about proper hold and delivery. The most common changeups are the forkball, the split-finger and the circle.
The circle originated in the early 1950s and was first called a slip change. It is arguably the grandfather of all the circle-style change pitches that exist today.
The circle changeup and split-finger styles produced a new wave of funkiness on the mound. They haven’t entirely displaced old-school pitches, such as the screwball and knuckleball. But these changeups represent more manageable versions of the colourful pitches made famous by the likes of Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican lefty with the lethal screwball, and Burt Hooten, the former Dodger who employed a knuckle curve.
Knuckleballers are scarce these days: Boston’s Tim Wakefield and the Mets’ R.A. Dickey are essentially the only two practitioners of the pitch. Meanwhile, screwball pitchers are mostly a thing of the past. Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka broke into the major leagues four seasons ago and titillated just about everyone with the promise of a screwball-changeup dubbed the gyro.
Hall of Fame outfielder Al Kaline, who starred with Detroit from 1953 to 1974, said pitchers today are stronger and more specialized. Many enter the majors with four pitches, including the changeup, while back in his days, pitchers usually showed up with two.
“No question, more pitchers are throwing harder than ever before,” Kaline said. “Pitchers are bigger and stronger, and that’s across the game with all players.
“You see the changeup favoured these days over the splitter, to keep hitters off-balance. Back in the day, guys were throwing the forkball, but that was much different than today. With the small ballparks and the strength and size in the game, pitchers have had to develop a lot more pitches to keep hitters off-balance.”
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