BRADENTON, Fla. – The start of spring training is one of the most interesting of the year . After an offseason where players are in controlled environments, giving themselves the freedom to experiment and maybe change some things, they return to get feedback from live competition.
Sometimes it’s the start of a breakout. Other times it means nothing. With a shorter spring to work with, those changes are going to be a little more wild than usual because there won’t be as much in-game feedback to signal if what they’re doing is working or not.
“I think we have to be a little more open to how it plays, because we don’t have seven weeks, we have three weeks,” Derek Shelton said. “We gotta see how it plays out… One of the things that’s really gonna come into play is how guys prepared in the offseason and what they did.”
I’ve already profiled a couple changes players have made so far this spring, including Ke’Bryan Hayes’ new follow through and Cole Tucker refining the mechanics he had at the end of last season. Let’s build off of that for this week’s Mound Visit and take a look at some changes in mechanics or approach those players made this winter, and what impact they may have going forward.
KEVIN NEWMAN’S HANDS
It’s more than fair to be skeptical of anything Newman does from now before opening day. Last spring, he was unstoppable, batting over .600. In the regular season, he had an OPS below .600, the worst in the majors among qualified hitters.
His stellar defense kept him just above replacement level, and the Pirates signed him to a one-year deal just before the tender deadline rather than presumably let him go, but 2022 really feels like it’s it for him. If he doesn’t hit, the Pirates have minor-leaguers who are ready for the opportunity to show they can.
The Pirates challenged him in their exit interviews to find a way to hit better. For Newman, that meant revamping his swing.
Here’s a side-by-side of a ground ball single he hit in September and his double in Sunday’s game against the Blue Jays:
“It’s definitely a little bit shorter,” Newman explained to me. “My hands are closer to the ball. It feels good.”
There are a couple noticeable changes. The hands are much lower, giving him a new swing path. Newman’s struggles last year were more elaborate than just launch angle, but it certainly didn’t help. In 2019, he topped the ball 22.6% of the time and hit a flare or burner (a hit qualification that has a .650 batting average league wide) 28.3% of the time. In 2021, he got under it 28.9% of the time and got a flare or burner in just 23.1% of his at-bats. That alone is an over 10% change of his batted balls going from something potentially positive to mostly negative.
He also narrowed his stance, and perhaps most importantly, shortened the swing. The video on the left is in slow motion, but you can see through his body cues that the new swing is much more compact and gets to the ball quicker. He’s always had good bat to ball skills, but this is a way to get the barrel out more.
That’s especially important for Newman, who last year was worth -19 runs against four-seam fastballs (second worst and the majors) and -3.1 runs per 100 four-seamers he saw (RV/100, worst among hitters with at least 100 PAs against fastballs). He’s had trouble with sinkers in the past (it makes sense given it’s a contact pitch and he’s a contact hitter), but he could handle the four-seamers and pepper it around the diamond. He lost that in 2021, and there’s almost no way he could reclaim a spot without changing that.
The Pirates challenged him to be a better hitter this offseason, and after seeing the path he took to potentially do so, Shelton was impressed.
“He took it to heart,” Shelton said. “The stance is significantly different, and there’s a purpose to it. When he articulated the purpose and how he worked on it to me, it was very clear. I’m excited to see how it transpires in games.”
HAYES’ LOWER HALF
I’ve written about one Hayes mechanical change so far: He’s adopting a two-hand follow-through to try to take pressure off that wrist and keep himself on the diamond. Staying healthy and being available all season is the most important thing for him this year, so that mechanical change is the most important one he underwent this winter.
That was only half of the equation, though. The changes to his upper-half were for health. The lower-half changes are for timing and improving his offensive output. Because while he was a 2.4 WAR player last year over 96 games, a full season with an improved OPS would seemingly be enough for a breakout campaign.
To try to accomplish that, Hayes has closed his stance and ditched his leg kick, at least for now. He’s still experimenting with what should replace the leg kick. A shorter hover? A step forward? A toe tap? You may see them all this spring, so let’s focus on the set up instead.
Here he is 2021:
And 2022:
“I’m just trying to have a quieter approach,” Hayes told me. “Simplifying it so I can see the ball better.”
I wrote in a previous Mound Visit that a key for Hayes going forward is him pulling fly balls more. Granted, it was just batting practice, but I noticed him doing that more frequently during the first few days of camp. That could mean nothing, but a closed stance and improved timing could help him move his contact point up, which would lead to more pulled liners and flies.
If he does that, a breakout would most likely follow.
MITCH KELLER’S NEW PITCH
The big story with Keller this spring is obviously the velocity, hitting 98 mph several times in his first spring training start, something he didn’t do all of 2021. That extra velocity will be beneficial in several ways, including helping his breaking stuff play better.
“Guys are so geared up for upper-90s that it makes it a little harder to sit back on a curveball or take your time on a curveball or recognize it,” Keller explained. “It makes a lot tougher for them and gives me more leeway here and there.”
While Keller entered the majors with a pair of plus breaking pitches, neither played particularly well in 2021. Hitters had a 91.4 mph exit velocity and 30.5% whiff rate against his slider, which is far worse than the 85.6 mph exit velo and 47.8% swing-and-miss rate he had as a rookie. Meanwhile, hitters hit an eye-opening .452 against his curve.
Last year, Keller saw his slider get less run – going from being 0.4 inches of break above average in 2019 to -1.1 in 2021 – while the curve lost some of its original shape by getting some more run but less drop.
Enter a new pitch: A slurve.
The only pitch we know for sure was a slurve was Keller’s final pitch of the afternoon: A comebacker that caught him on the left thigh. While that one was hit hard, you can see the intent behind the pitch and how it’s breaking down while continuing to run horizontally:
That pitch was clocked at 85 mph, which was very close to his slider speed a year ago, but remember, everything in his repertoire just saw its velocity jump.
Keller just started throwing this slurve about three and a half weeks ago, so it’s way too early to make any bold proclamations about it. There is a very good chance that it gets refined or continues to evolve. As is, though, it looks like a way to throw hitters off the scent of his other two breaking pitches, showing the batter a shape of how a pitch will break while having the ability to either have it run or drop more with a slider or curve to follow.
The velocity is the most noteworthy part of Keller’s winter, but if he can find another way to elevate his breaking stuff too, it could have a great impact on his body of work.
“I’m just trying to tinker with it here and there, find something that I like,” Keller said. “I’m just trying to get some consistency with it.”
