Changeup

From SoSH

1 Overview
2 Grip & Action
3 Best Changeup (All of Baseball)
4 Best Changeup (Red Sox)
5 Best Changeup (Red Sox Minor Leagues)
6 External Links

Overview

A changeup is a type of "off-speed" pitch. The pitcher usually attempts to throw the changeup using the same arm action as a fastball, but the pitch has a lower velocity due to the grip. A good changeup looks exactly like a fastball, fooling the hitter into swinging early. There are at least two keys to a good changeup. First, the pitch must be sufficiently slower than the fastball, while not being so slow that they hitter can recover from being fooled. Second, a good changeup will tail away from the hitter, so that if they swing early they have little hope of hitting the ball.

[edit]

Grip & Action

The grip of the changeup is difficult for many pitchers to master. For this reason, a variety of grips have evolved.

From Wikipedia: The most common type is the straight change. The ball is held with three fingers (instead of the usual two) and closer to the palm, to kill some of the speed generated by the wrist and fingers. This pitch generally breaks downward slightly, though its motion does not differ greatly from a two-seam fastball.

Another common grip is the circle changeup. The pitcher forms a circle with his index finger and thumb, using these two fingers to grip the seams of the baseball. By pronating the wrist upon release, this pitch tends to break slightly in the same direction as a screwball. More or less break will come about from the pitcher's arm slot, the more three-quarters or side-arm angle, the more break generally. Pedro Martinez has used this pitch throughout his career to great effect, and many consider it to be his best pitch. Before shoulder injuries made him lose velocity, Martinez countered his 96-98 mile per hour fastball with this devasting 80-82 mile per hour screwball-like changeup. Tom Glavine's changeup grip is a circle change grip, but because he does not pronate his wrist, he doesn't have the screwball movement, but rather, more sink on the pitch than the straight change.

[edit]