Changeup makes all the difference
Giants righthander Logan Webb tries to get a grip on a key pitch and spot in the rotation
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Giants are gaining attention for the work they do providing starters with great comeback opportunities and advanced information to help them do so.
How do those things apply to their young pitchers? Well, Logan Webb, who is making his fourth start of the spring Tuesday and has yet to allow a run, might be the best example.
The righthander from Rocklin is having the best spring among all the team’s starters, and much of that is a result of data that has the 24yearold thinking, as he put it, more on the horizontal plane than a vertical one. His stuff is a mix of complementary pitches that break sidetoside, limiting chances for good contact.
The most important aspect of Webb’s game, though, came from a minorleague teammate. Mac Marshall, Webb’s best friend in the organization, taught him a hybrid changeup grip — part circle change, part oneseamer — when the two were pitching at Class A San Jose.
“It’s unconventional,” Marshall said. “You’ve got to know where to put the pressure on your fingers, and know the feel coming out of your hand, but you could tell Logan was basically a changeup away from an entire bigleague arsenal. I said, ‘You’re cutting your changeup right
now, so why don’t you just try my grip and see?’
“He threw like two or three and I was like, ‘Whoa.’ ”
“Ever since then, it’s been my favorite pitch,” Webb said.
Now, Webb’s changeup is so good, it’s frequently compared to Luis Castillo’s — which is ranked the best in the game.
“I had the pleasure of catching Luis Castillo for the past three years in Cincinnati and he’s got probably one of the most devastating changeups as anyone in the game,” catcher Curt Casali said, “When I saw Logan’s change for the first time, I told him pointblank that it’s just as good, if not better.”
“Where it falls on the movement chart is really unique,” Giants pitching coach Andrew Bailey said, adding that, like Castillo’s, “it’s almost like screwball.”
Marshall compared it to a lefthander’s slider because of the action that Webb gets.
“’It’s like an extra pitch, two for the price of one, if you want, depending on the count,” Marshall said. “One has maybe less depth, less horizontal movement that maybe could be a firststrike pitch, and as a hitter, you’re like ‘OK, well, that’s probably not a good one,’ and the next thing you know, he’ll throw a fastball by you and come back with a completely different changeup for the strikeout.”
The Giants, bucking the norm by asking their pitchers to use their best pitches heavily rather than leaning primarily on their fastballs, would like Webb to employ his changeup as much as possible. He’s done so upward of 5060% of the time this spring.
“Hey, use your best weapon as often as possible,” Bailey said. “Just because the history of baseball has said, ‘Establish the fastball.,’ Well, the changeup is his best pitch. Why wouldn’t we base the other pitches off that?
“I like to use the example of boxing — fastballs are like jabs, they have to be precisely located and used accordingly, but you throw your haymaker at all times.”
Last year, the Giants’ new coaching staff encouraged Webb to change his arm slot, going from an overthetop delivery to a threequarters angle — and that reconfigured his pitch shapes. His curveball, one of his primary pitches dating back to his youthleague days in Rocklin, where he learned it from former minorleaguer Ryan Larson, turned into more of a sweeping slider. Webb added a cutter to go with his fourseam fastball, the sinker that Giants pitcher Andrew Suarez taught him, and his nowscrewballesque changeup.
With the mix of fastball, curveball and sinker, the idea was to change batters’ eye levels; after the armslot dropped, the repertoire has more of a lateral vibe.
“For me, everything is horizontal now, whether that be the cutter, the change or the slider,” he said.
“His ability to think eastwest is remarkable,” Bailey said, “and he still has the ability to attack northsouth. He’s able to do some crazy things with the baseball.”
It has been a fascinating evolution for a pitcher who now seems as if he must be firmly in the Giants’ rotation plans. Webb has allowed only two hits and a walk while striking out 10 in six innings this spring, thanks to a changeup borrowed from a buddy and some wise delivery tweaks and usage suggestions from his coaches.
Add to that some bigleague experience the past two years and greater confidence, and suddenly Webb might be a major factor for the team.
“His openmindedness and ability to harness everything has been tremendous,” Bailey said. “He’s understanding who he is and embracing that, not trying to do everything but being great at what he does well. That’s the perfect mindset.”