Collette Calls: 2019 New Pitches of Note

I have covered new pitches during spring training the last six seasons. This year has been a big one as many pitchers are working on new pitches, but I want to focus on some specific new pitches and why you should be paying attention to those pitches early in 2019. New pitches can lead to new results, and we saw this last year with Trevor Bauer, Nathan Eovaldi, Wade Miley, Jhoulys Chacin and Marco Gonzales as most of that crew went from being end-game talent to difference makers in 2018. Perhaps some of the pitchers below can do the same in 2019.

Trevor Bauer is working on his changeup. You have to love that Bauer, who arguably would have won the Cy Young last year had he not gotten hurt, is still working to improve his offerings. Bauer threw 197 changeups last season and it functioned as an excellent pitch, but he is not satisfied with it. Despite the excellent outcomes off the pitch, the chase rate on his changeup was in the bottom 25th percentile last season while his swinging strike rate on the pitch was not in the top 25 percent. Simply put, there is room for improvement with the pitch, and if his rebuilt changeup functions as well as he rebuilt slider last season, look out. 

Cam Bedrosian - Bedrosian is working on a splitter. He needs something, because his velocity has declined the last few seasons, though there has been a slight uptick this spring. Perhaps he can turn himself into what Matt Shoemaker was when he was still with the Angels. In a deep AL-Only league, he is worth a reserve round dart, but I would note he went undrafted in Tout Wars last weekend.

Jalen Beeks - Beeks is dropping his cutter and adding a slider. Beeks needs something better against righties because they hit him hard last year to the tune of .287/.384/.473. Beeks allowed 20 extra-base hits out of the pen for Tampa Bay, 17 coming against righties. A slider gives him something to work both sides of the plate with less risk than a cutter flattening out. Reports out of camp have him throwing with increased velocity, so that and this slider with Beeks in a bulk role after one of the opener pitchers could be this year's Ryan Yarbrough. 

Ryan Borucki - Borucki is throwing harder this spring. We normally sit up and taken notice when someone is one to two ticks above their normal velocity in the spring, so hearing that Borucki is up three miles an hour is worth noting. The increased velocity could lead to a needed increase in some swing and miss in his game as he has fringy indicators and will be facing some tough lineups in the American League East.

Archie Bradley - Bradley is working on a changeup, but it is the return of his curveball that is more notable. Bradley and the changeup are an odd pairing because he has not had issues with lefties the last couple seasons, but he has had issues with righties. Bradley throws a knuckle-curve, but could not throw the pitch much last year after breaking a nail in a car door that never properly healed during the season. The return of that pitch and even a show-me change will make him look better than he was last season and could push him to be the primary closer while flourishing in the role. 

Corbin Burnes - Burnes has made the rotation and is working on a changeup and a sinker. He already had three pitches, but now he wants to go to five, and BrooksBaseball shows Burnes is throwing both pitches in games in Arizona. The changeup is a split-changeup, which is tough to control, but it is something hitters have to respect. The sinker gives him something to throw inside to righties so they do not get out there leaning on his stuff that mostly moves away from righties. A deeper repertoire also helps reduce his risk to the TTOP.

Trevor Cahill - Cahill is throwing a cutter again. The pitch began to disappear in 2015 and stayed away until this spring where it has reappeared. 

Cahill already slings the kitchen sink to the plate, but has not eclipsed 111 innings since the 2013 season. Incredulously, he is the Angels' Opening Day starter  

Patrick Corbin  - Corbin is bringing back his changeup, despite the fact he essentially ditched the pitch last season and had a career season without it. His numbers against righties took a step forward last year, so the re-introduction of the pitch seems odd on the surface, but the comments from the scout in the linked article bring it all together. The changeup keeps hitters off the fastball while the slider and curve pair up nicely. Like Bauer, he is not resting on the laurels of his 2018 success.

Anthony DeSclafani - DeSclafani is adding a much needed curve and changeup. Disco was primarily a two-pitch pitcher last season with his fastball(s) and a slider, but the league continues to hit him rather well. His strikeout rate has increased every year he has been in the majors, but the batting average has remained the same, and last year, homers were a huge problem for him. Giving both righties and lefties another pitch to think about will do wonders for him. He has just one season with a sub 4.00 ERA and no seasons with double-digit wins, but he could potentially do both this season in what should be an entertaining Cincinnati club.

Jack Flaherty - Flaherty is working on a splitter this spring. Flaherty was already loaded with helium this spring if you have watched him pitch, and he is coming off a season where he used his magical slider to strike out 30 percent of the hitters he faced. If this splitter is for real, we could be looking at a borderline ace pitcher in 2019.

Gio Gonzalez - Gonzalez was let go this spring, and quickly picked up by the Yankees as they will open the season with two-fifths of their rotation on the injured list. We need only to look back at 2018 to see how a cutter impacted middling lefties such as Wade Miley and Gonzales to dream about what is possible for Gonzalez. 2017 was flukishly good for the left, but he can pitch better than he did last year. The run support in New York should help him continue his nine-year streak of double-digit wins while the cutter could help him rediscover the strikeout rate that he lost in 2018. 

Jordan Hicks - Hicks is working on a changeup – one that he throws in the low 90s. It looks like this, and it just is not going to be fair for hitters. 

Brad Keller - Keller is working on a changeup. Keller needs this pitch to help neutralize lefties that really worked him over last season to the tune of a .267/.364/.366 slash line. The groundball specialist is tough to elevate, but teams could stack their lineup with lefties against him and just work the OBP train against him because he tends to work away and walk guys rather than give in. A changeup gives him another wrinkle, while his current repertoire held righties to a .237/.277/.311 line last year. Keller is an intriguing late game pick-up if he can add a little more swing and miss to his game. 

Joey Lucchesi - Lucchesi is adding a cutter. If I had to pick one new pitch to focus on this year, this is the one I want to see come to fruition. You can go back to my NL West bold prediction column and read why this is a critical pitch for him this year to take a step up to the next level. 

Tyler Mahle - Mahle is adding a splitter and scrapping his slider for a curve. Mahle threw his fastball 68 percent of the time last season and his slider another 20 percent. Derek Johnson is already getting to him asking him to look at the curve as a way to change eye angles and the splitter as a way to get guys to expand the zone with two strikes. His regular changeup was an ineffective pitch last year, and his slider wasn't that great either. The fastball was the only pitch with a positive run value, so anything he can do to make it look better is a positive thing.

Frankie Montas - Montas is adding a splitter. Montas throws in the mid-90s, but has the repertoire of a reliever and has not had the strikeout success one with a big fastball and slider should have. He has a big need for another pitch, and given Montas is out of options and the club needs him with Jesus Luzardo out awhile. The pitch is showing up early on pitch f/x, so if it works, there will be some much-needed swing and miss coming to Montas's game. Last year, his SwStr% was nine percent, which is below average for a starter.

Blake Parker - Parker is adding a cutter as he tries to chase down the closer role in Minnesota against Trevor May. The secondary metrics show that Parker was quite lucky last year, and that there is some regression coming if he continues pitching as he did last year. the 1.6 HR/9 rate was out of line with other stuff, but also points out the need for another pitch as he is essentially a fastball/splitter guy and only the splitter has a positive run value. If the cutter works, he could give May a run, but I view May as the superior pitcher right now.

Brad Peacock - Peacock is working to add a Trevor Hoffman-inspired changeup. Literally, he looked at youtube videos of Hoffman explaining the pitch and began working on it this winter. Peacock could break camp as the fifth starter with Houston, but has primarily been a fastball/slider guy. That is a reliever repertoire that leaves him susceptible to lefties, who have hit him at a .253/.337/.480 clip the past two season leading to a 5.14 ERA and 1.48 WHIP against lefties. Simply put, he needs something he can use that goes the other way to keep lefties looking away for more than fastballs, or he is not going to last in the rotation.

Martin Perez - Perez is throwing 97 and a cutter. Perez has had neither of these things the past few years, so we are forced to take notice. Just last year, Derek Holland rose from the dead and had fantasy value. Perez looks like the 2019 favorite to do the same this year in a very soft AL Central division.

Rick Porcello - Porcello is re-tooling his changeup with the help of Eduardo Rodriguez, whose changeup is inspired by Pedro Martinez. Porcello's changeup has lacked the swing and miss that is associated with the pitch, as his whiff rate on the pitch was in the lowest 25th percentile last year. Last year, Porcello increased his slider utilization and it led to a bump in strikeouts. Getting a whiffier changeup could lead to another bump in 2019.

Trevor Richards - Richards is ditching his slider for a curve and adding a cutter. Richards has an amazing changeup, but needs more than just it and an average fastball to get work done. Changing to the curveball should allow him to change eye levels more effectively, and the cutter gives him something to use against righties who hit him at a .270/.346/.482 clip. The comps to Jeremy Hellickson are tough to ignore here, but Hellickson never adjusted his ways and the league caught up to him. Richards is learning early that he needs to do more than just throw a changeup; he needs to change things up. 

Eduardo Rodriguez - Rodriguez went to Chris Sale for help re-working his slider. Rodriguez needs that third pitch to pair with his fastball/changeup ways, and it has avoided him so far in his career. That, and injuries, have held him back from achieving what so many of us believe he can do. A bonafide slider that even somewhat resembles what Sale's looks like is a game-changer for Rodriguez that could make life miserable for lefties and righties in 2019.

Justus Sheffield - Sheffield is working on a changeup. Sheffield will not be up for a few weeks, but the changeup he is showing in the gif below looks very good. 

Masahiro Tanaka - Tanaka is working on a knuckle-curve. Tanaka is doing everything he can to avoid throwing his fastball these days and appears to be willing to sling just about anything else to the plate. It was mostly sliders and splitters last year, so a knuckle-curve to help pair off his slider could be a way for him to continue to remain whiffy with his stuff. 

Luke Weaver - Weaver is reworking his curveball. He went out and bought a Rapsodo as the sophomore slump he suffered in 2018 really humbled him. The curveball has been a lagging third pitch for him, so he suffered the TTOP to great extremes last year as a mostly two-pitch pitcher. Getting a legit curveball will help him avoid a repeat beating in that area and help him bounce back in a nice way out in Arizona.

Kirby Yates - Yates is trying to bring the slider back. It was a pitch that was a big part of his game before the splitter came roaring out of nowhere. The slider is not going to ever become the second pitch again, but it is refreshing to see a reliever who is already on top of his game trying to make it better.

I'll check back in on these pitches during the summer to see which ones came north with the pitchers and if any made a difference. If you'd like to see the entire list of new pitches that I've tracked this year, check out the 2019 New Pitch Tracker.