ATLANTA -- When Oscar Marin took over as the Pirates' pitching coach after the 2019 season, he was tasked with catching the team up to league trends, including relying on four-seam fastballs more rather than continuing to rely on the sinker.
That’s changing in 2022. Walking past batting cages this season, teams set up pitching machines and Rapsodos to simulate the look and velocity of high fastballs. Hitters are looking for high heat.
“I think the game was asking us to make an adjustment, and we’re making that adjustment,” Marin told me.
That adjustment is going back to the sinker.
Last season, the Pirates threw the third-fewest sinkers in baseball, both in terms of number and percentage (9.1%). Entering play Thursday, they had thrown a sinker or two-seamer 16.7% of the time, putting them at 11th in baseball.
Meanwhile, the Pirates have gone from being one of four teams to throw the four-seamer for at least 40% of their pitches thrown last season to 31.3%, ranking in the bottom half of the league.
And given the adjustments JT Brubaker and Zach Thompson have made to their pitch mixes, opting for sink more than rise, plus Mitch Keller adding a sinker, those sinker numbers are going to keep going up.
Some of that is pitching to certain pitcher’s strengths, but some of it is a conscious, ideological change.
Marin cited the deadened baseball as a reason why the sinker and changeups are on the rise again in the sport. Few teams are making as big a leap as the Pirates, though.
“It doesn’t suck having a 97-mph sinker,” Marin joked. “If they’re selling out to do that and we do this, they have to change their approach.”
MORE PIRATES
2. The most noteworthy of those new sinkers is Keller's. It's something the coaching staff wanted him to try out last year to help him get a better feel for his four-seamer, but he never found a way to make it play consistently.
While the sample size is small, hitters are just 3-for-20 against it so far. The four-seamer will remain a part of his game too, but they are really throwing themselves into developing this pitch. That includes taking advantage of the extra off-days this past week to throw another live batting practice, where a theoretical pitch count was called out and Keller would approach the rest of the at-bat with sinkers.
“There’s nothing better for developing a pitch than a hitter in the box swinging the bat," Marin said. -- Stumpf
3. So what should we look for to see if Keller's sinker is developing? Location to his glove side, because that will help the slider tunnel off of it and make both pitches potentially better. “When he can throw it to his glove side and his arm side, it’s going to be a different man," Marin said. "A different beast.” -- Stumpf
4. This one isn't just from my talk with Marin, but other conversations I've had with people in the organization about Keller. They aren't anywhere close to giving up on him yet, and they fully believe he's going to figure out how to be a big-leaguer here, not somewhere else. They are determined to not let him be another Tyler Glasnow and break out with another team. -- Stumpf
5. Every Pirates bullpen session starts the same way: Marin or bullpen coach Justin Meccage asks, "what are we working on?" After the player lays out what they would like to do, the coach adds some input, but this area of development and practice is player-driven. -- Stumpf
6. With first base still very fluid and there not being a lot of depth, Diego Castillo made his major-league debut there Saturday. He started taking ground balls there occasionally last month, but even before he fielded his first glove, he got himself a first base mitt when he was approached with the idea. He wanted to make sure he was ready for any opportunity to get into the lineup. -- Stumpf
7. Rodolfo Castro struggled at times with the Pirates, but it wasn’t his plate discipline or performance on the field that got him sent to Indianapolis last weekend. It was his mental game or lack thereof.
“He knows what he did,” Indians manager Miguel Perez told me. “He came down here to work hard.”
For what it’s worth, he and Perez have an excellent relationship and Perez has no problem giving tough love to Castro when he needs it most. -- Jarrod Prugar in Indianapolis
8. Oneil Cruz started off the season ice cold in Indianapolis. A lot of that could be due to the weather or the mere fact he started in Class AAA after ending the season in Pittsburgh and having an impressive spring training.
Cruz has steadily improved as the season has gone on and much of that can be credited to the approach Perez has had with him to keep him mentally focused.
“I just want him to focus on what he needs to focus on on a daily basis,” Perez said. “I’m checking in with him every other day because we have a relationship and he needs to work on some stuff in order to go up there and stay up there. -- Prugar in Indianapolis
9. Cal Mitchell's made bold strides to make it to the majors May 24 and, from there, to fare reasonably well. A scout who worked with a teenaged Mitchell in the USA Baseball national program texted me over the weekend to share this: "We had him and weren't quite sure right away what we had. It took time. But the more we saw, the more he grew on us. This is a player who belongs where he is." -- Dejan Kovacevic
STEELERS
10. The Guardian Cap helmet covers worn by the Steelers at their mandatory minicamp this week aren’t going anywhere. The team’s offensive and defensive linemen, tight ends and linebackers all will wear the equipment at training camp, as well. At least until the team plays its first preseason game. The headgear is designed to lessen the blow for players who might bang heads consistently during drill work. “They’re a little awkward,” tight end Pat Freiermuth told me. “They take some getting used to. But we have to do it.” The NFL agreed to try the equipment out at the league meeting in March. So, all teams will be wearing them. — Dale Lolley on the South Side
11. Minkah Fitzpatrick still isn’t close to getting a new contract. But those talks will start to take place in the coming weeks. Perhaps the biggest holdup will be the pending contract of Derwin James. The two All-Pro safeties could re-set the market for pay at the position. But both might like to wait and see what it is the other signs for, then try to get one dollar more. That’s just the way these things work. — Lolley
12. As for the potential for Fitzpatrick to sit out team practices at training camp as T.J. Watt did a year ago, that seems to be a real possibility. But defensive coordinator Teryl Austin isn’t concerned about it. “I have zero concerns about Minkah. Minkah is a unicorn,” Austin said. “He’s always in great shape. He loves football. He’s got all the stuff you want a guy to have. I have zero worries about it. That stuff will work itself out.” To Austin’s point, nearly an hour after the team’s final minicamp practice, the two players still on the field working? Fitzpatrick and wide receiver Diontae Johnson, another player who is heading into the final season of his rookie contract. — Lolley
13. Another player who could still be in line for a new contract in the preseason is Chris Boswell, who is heading into the final year of a 4-year, $16.8-million deal he signed in 2019. Boswell counts $4.9 million against the salary cap this season, which makes him one of the game’s highest-paid kickers. But he’s also earned that, making 88.3 percent of his career field goals. And that includes his poor 2018 season, which seems like a lifetime ago. Still just 31, it seems unlikely Boswell, the most accurate kicker in Steelers history, is going anywhere. That deal could get done quite quickly. He’s made 90 percent or higher of his kicks in five of his seven seasons. — Lolley
14. The Steelers moved Devin Bush from Mack to Buck linebacker with the addition of Myles Jack. That allows Jack to be the more traditional coverage linebacker and Bush to be the attacking linebacker who shoots the gap. The Steelers hope the move works the same way things did when they flipped sides with T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree back in 2019, with both linebackers benefitting from the move. “We think so,” Austin said when asked if the move will help. “We think we’re making moves right now that will strengthen us. But that will play out in camp and in the games. We like where we are right now.” Jack has been in the league longer and has a better understanding of coverage and how offenses are trying to attack the defense. While Bush can just simply get downhill. — Lolley
15. Talking to a former NFL GM recently, he said many current GMs around the league are understandably not happy with the fully guaranteed five-year, $230-million contract the Browns gave Deshaun Watson. Teams in particular who are upset about it include the Ravens, Bengals and Chargers, all of whom are either in the process of soon will be of signing promising young quarterbacks to long-term deals. The Browns completely re-set the quarterback market for a player who has plenty of off-field issues. You’d better believe Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert are going to want more. And don’t think those owners aren’t going to push for Watson to have the book thrown at him for his off-field antics to both penalize the player for his poor behavior and the Browns for a contract many in the league believes upsets the quarterback apple cart. — Lolley
16. Give defensive line coach Karl Dunbar credit for the line of minicamp. When asked about what he thought about adding senior defensive assistant Brian Flores to the staff, Dunbar said the first thing he told Flores was, "I thought you were taller." TV apparently not only adds 10 pounds, but several inches in height. -- Lolley
PENGUINS
17. The Penguins are looking to add to their analytics staff this offseason, a move that's well overdue. The average number of people in a team's hockey analytics department across the league is 3.5, and some Metropolitan Division teams have large departments: The Islanders have a staff of six, the Devils have five, the Rangers have five, and the Flyers have six. The Penguins' analytics team has just two people: Senior data scientist Nick Citrone and data scientist Katerina Wu. There are only eight other teams in the league with two or fewer people working in analytics. -- Taylor Haase at PPG Paints Arena
18. Remember all those videos of Kasper Bjorkqvist lifting and hip-thrusting ridiculous amounts of weight? They made for impressive Instagram posts, but I don't know how well all that work translated onto the ice. I don't think the nature of Bjorkqvist's injury in his rookie 2019-20 season (a torn ACL) was a result of his training, but he had weaknesses in his game, particularly when it came to his skating, that could be improved with his offseason training. Bjorkqvist has switched trainers and is now working with Helsinki-based SAHA Training, a group that works with a number of professional hockey and basketball players. -- Haase
19. A group of local professional, college, and junior players have begun skating and training at the Lemieux Complex for the summer. Among them is Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons. Cranberry is quite a ways away from Girgensons' native Latvia, but Girgensons is actually a Yinzer by marriage, with his wife being from Pittsburgh. They have a house in the area and Girgensons has lived and trained here for the past several offseasons. Girgensons, 28, is entering the final year of his contract with Buffalo, and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. I'd imagine that Pittsburgh is a destination that would be one of his top picks if he does hit free agency. -- Haase
20. A couple of Penguins players are still in town, too. I've seen Brian Dumoulin back on the ice just four weeks after completely tearing his MCL in the playoffs. Mike Matheson and his wife Emily, a defender for Team USA, are both in town and skating in Cranberry. Emily hasn't played professionally or internationally since she and Mike had their first child, a son Hudson who just turned one year old. I've also seen Casey DeSmith around the past few days after undergoing groin surgery in the playoffs, first just working out at the Lemieux Complex then finally getting on the ice with Andy Chiodo this week. DeSmith doesn't have a contract for next season, but the fact that he's still around and working with Chiodo seems to be an indication that he expects to be back. -- Haase
21. P.O Joseph has had to switch agents a couple of times the past few years. His first agent Christian Daigle passed away in 2021, and his next agent Emilie Castonguay was hired as the assistant GM of the Canucks in January. Joseph is now working with Olivier Fortier, who also manages Joseph's brother Mathieu, as well as Alexis Lafreniere, Jakob Pelletier, and Cedric Paquette, among others. -- Haase
