Landen Roupp leans closely on his high-spin curveball, and Hayden Birdsong is a purveyor of the kick-change. Each pitches profile as plus, which is an enormous motive the right-handers are being counted on to supply high quality innings of their respective roles with the San Francisco Giants this season; Roupp is within the rotation, whereas Birdsong is figuring out of the bullpen.
The early outcomes have been promising. The 26-year-old Roupp, who’s scheduled to make his second begin on Tuesday evening towards the Cincinnati Reds, made his season debut on April 2 in a 6-3 Giants win over the Houston Astros. The beginning wasn’t nice — he was eliminated with the bases loaded and no person out within the fifth inning and was finally charged with three runs — however his eight strikeouts had been encouraging. Seven of these strikeouts — and not one of the 4 hits he allowed — got here towards his curveball. He threw his signature providing 34 instances in his 83-pitch effort.
Birdsong has thrown 4 scoreless innings over two aid appearances. Certainly one of his 4 strikeouts has come courtesy of the kick-change, which he has thrown 9 instances out of 53 whole pitches. The 23-year-old, likewise in his second large league season, has primarily attacked hitters together with his high-octane heater (56.6% utilization).
The tales behind Roupp’s hook and Birdsong’s changeup? I broached the themes with the right-handers in Giants camps shortly earlier than the beginning of the common season.
———
“I’ve thrown it my whole life,” Roupp mentioned of his curveball. “All that’s actually completely different is that I’m getting stronger with extra mobility, and studying in regards to the metrics. In faculty we didn’t have metrics. So, studying methods to make it transfer extra and spin tougher… studying and rising into my physique has made it quite a bit higher. For me, having confidence in it’s the greatest factor.”
A Twelfth-round select of UNC-Wilmington in 2021, Roupp spun his curveball at 3,056 rpm in his April 2 outing, comfortably throughout the 2,900-3,100 vary he’d described to me. Roupp additionally mentioned that he “will get about 19 to 22 [inches] of horizontal [movement] and one thing like negative-11 vert” when he’s executing correctly. Timing is the important thing. When he’s out of sync together with his supply it doesn’t come out of his hand precisely as he’d like. Selecting up a baseball, Roupp confirmed me his two-seam fastball grip, then rotated the ball simply barely. He defined that he throws his curveball identical to his two-seamer, however “with a snap.”
Roupp’s curveball is “fairly sluggish,” averaging 77.4 mph because the begin of final season. He mentioned the pace differential between that and his fastball — his two-seamer averages 93.4 mph — is an enormous a part of its effectiveness. As for its utilization, he threw the curve 41% of the time in his first outing, which was barely much less regularly than he did final season (44.1%). With the caveat that one recreation is nowhere close to a big sufficient pattern dimension to find out what a pitcher’s utilization charges shall be, that dip was notable on condition that Roupp advised me this spring that his plan was to throw his curve much less usually this season.
“Developing by way of the minor leagues, they had been telling me I used to be throwing it an excessive amount of,” Roupp mentioned. “That was extra about growing my different pitches, although. However whereas I would throw it 40% of the time, I do assume I’m going to lean again a little bit bit now that I’ve the changeup and the cutter. The changeup was new final 12 months, and the cutter this 12 months. I wish to implement these and get individuals off my curveball in order that it’s much more efficient on the large league degree.”
———
“I’ve a high-vert heater with fairly good velo,” Birdsong mentioned when requested to explain his full arsenal. “My curveball is the other of my fastball in that it’s simply straight down; it’s negative-15 vert when it’s good. My slider is sort of in growth and is extra of a cutter. My changeup is simply my changeup. I began throwing it final 12 months, and it’s developed into one in all my higher pitches.”
That will in fact be the kick-change. The proper-hander supposedly realized it at Tread Athletics… besides, that’s not true. Birdsong defined that whereas “everyone says that,” he’s by no means been to Tread, nor has he talked to anybody who works there. He merely watched a Tread video, then started experimenting with the grip the next day.
“I began enjoying catch with it — this was in spring coaching — and I’m undecided I may even keep in mind who my catch associate was,” mentioned Birdsong, whom the Giants took within the sixth spherical of the 2022 draft out of Jap Illinois. “It may need been Spencer Bivens. However my changeup had been horrible the 12 months earlier than. It was principally only a dangerous fastball, a 15-vert slower fastball. That’s all it was. I wanted to seek out one other grip, one which wasn’t a splitter — I didn’t wish to mess with a type of — so I began taking a look at movies. That one popped up.”
Birdsong’s earlier makes an attempt to discover a high quality changeup had all been for naught, however when he noticed the kick-change, he thought, “Let’s strive it.” To his data, he’d by no means thrown one “below 9 vert.” Hastily, he had one which was near zero. The primary coach he approached with that information didn’t consider it.
“I used to be throwing it, and it was tumbling,” Birdsong mentioned. “It was doing what I wished it to do. I advised [bullpen coach Garvin Alston] that I’d thrown a changeup within the bullpen and it was adverse vert. He goes ‘No.’ Then he was like, ‘Let me go have a look [at the data].’ I requested him about it the subsequent day and he mentioned, ‘Maintain throwing it.’”
As Davis Martin and Matt Bowman defined right here at FanGraphs final September, the pitch that Birdsong is now throwing has a close-cousin relationship with the better-known cut up change. Whereas the identify is new, the pitch itself actually isn’t.
“I noticed the video and referred to as it a spike change,” mentioned Birdsong. “I confirmed the grip to any individual — I overlook who it was — and he was like, ‘Yeah, there are some guys who used to throw that. It’s referred to as a kick-change.’ All it’s, actually, is that you just’re kicking the axis of the ball. No matter you name it, it really works for me.”