The Pitch That's Making A Difference In 2018

March 9, 2018

(Click here to get a .pdf of this newsletter)

Before we get to the newsletter, some early evidence that when you put your work in over the winter, you reap rewards in March:

We'll see another one in a few minutes. Now, on to the newsletter...

As spring training rolls along and the excitement about the start of the regular season in 3 weeks, I came across 3 different instances of a certain pitch making a difference already in 2018.

Instance #1: In a Mets/Yankee spring training game on March 7, Matt Den Dekker was struck out by Domingo German on a 1-2 changeup. Here's what the broadcasters had to say:

Ron Darling: German just pounded Den Dekker in with fastballs and when he got ahead, went away with the changeup.

Keith Hernandez: He's got good stuff, this kid. Everyone's got a changeup now. That's the pitch. They're teaching it in the minor leagues, letting them take their lumps down there and honing that pitch. And when they come up to the big leagues, they're ready to throw it. And that's a good thing.

The best part about Hernandez's comment was that pitchers will initially struggle with the changeup...but that doesn't mean you stop throwing it! You stick with it and you will eventually develop a good one that will get good hitters out.

Instance #2: Listening to ESPN's March 8th Baseball Tonight podcast, Buster Olney asked Keith Law (author of this new baseball book) about Aaron Nola. Law had this to say:

“Going into last season, Nola was a 2-pitch pitcher. He doesn’t have an explosive fastball but he does have exceptional command of it. The big difference since 2016 is his changeup has dramatically improved. Now you can point to him as having 3 above-average Major League pitches.”

Instance #3: A freshman at a local high school spent the winter attending my winter conditioning program in November-December (click here to learn more) and had some private lessons in January-February before tryouts last week. Well, all the effort paid off, especially the work he spent on the changeup:

So the question is...Have You Put The Work In Learning the Changeup?

You can learn about the changeup in my Changeup Newsletter Section (click here) but by subscribing to my Video Library (click here to subscribe) where you can watch a video presentation on the changeup.

Have A Question About This Newsletter?

Contact (PitchingDoc@msn.com / 631-352-7654) Dr. Arnold!