Brandon Mann’s enjoying profession was coming to a detailed when he was featured right here at FanGraphs in June 2020. A southpaw whose skilled expertise spanned 17 seasons — together with a part of 2018 with the Texas Rangers — he was quickly to show from hurler to tutor. Mann served as a pitching coordinator for the KBO’s Lotte Giants in 2021, then spent the subsequent two years as a coach and pitching coordinator at Driveline. His final two season have been in Miami. Mann joined the Marlins as a pitching strategist in 2024, and this 12 months he’s their bullpen coach.
Given his background and experience, in addition to my being intrigued by a number of the gifted arms on the Miami pitching workers, I made it some extent to meet up with Mann when the Marlins visited Fenway Park in mid-August. I wasn’t positive precisely what we’d discuss, however I knew that it might be an excellent pitching dialog. We ended up specializing in changeups and splitters.
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David Laurila: You simply advised me that Edward Cabrera has a novel changeup. What makes it stand out?
Brandon Mann: “Probably the most distinctive half is how laborious it’s [94.2 mph, per Baseball Savant]. The motion profile is much like a sinker, though it has just a little bit extra depth than sinkers generally. It’s actually extra of the spin. Say he throws a changeup and a sinker and each are 96 [mph]. The motion profiles can be nearly equivalent, however the changeup goes to fall off extra as a result of it’s acquired as a lot as 600 fewer rpm. That’s tremendous distinctive.
“I don’t know if the motion offers it justice once you really see… say it’s three [inches] of induced vertical break and 16 [inches] horizontal — after which he throws a sinker at six and 18. They’re the identical velo, and the sinker stays up, however the changeup falls off, and someone swings and misses at it. Lots of that’s the spin element. Once more, it’s comparable velo, however anyplace from 500 to 600 rpm much less spin.
“You stand in there and see this pitch, and it seems prefer it’s dropping this a lot, and also you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s acquired to be adverse IVB’ — however it’s really [positive] two IV? It simply feels such as you’re standing in there with a hellacious splitter, or one thing like that. Once more, he throws it very laborious. That’s what’s loopy. I believe he has the toughest changeup in Statcast historical past.”
Laurila: Sandy Alcantara has a changeup. How does his evaluate to Cabrera’s?
Mann: “It’s not as agency [90.5 mph], and the spin is barely larger [2,092 rpm, compared to 1,753 for Cabrera]. I consider Cabby has extra extension [6.6 feet] than Sandy [6.1]. They’ve barely completely different arm angles. However I imply, Sandy has an excellent changeup, as nicely.”
Laurila: Does Eury Pérez throw a changeup?
Mann: “He does, however it’s nonetheless a work-in-progress. Eury has huge palms, so discovering the appropriate orientation, the appropriate grip… and he’s additionally so younger. He’s 22 years previous and growing within the large leagues. He’s doing an outstanding job of that— he’s acquired a unicorn fastball that’s considered one of a sort — however the hand dimension does make it just a little bit extra difficult. The ball is deep within the hand, so the orientation can change the motion due to the scale of his hand.
“Say we’re in an ordinary two-seam orientation. My palms are regular sized, so it’s simple to line it as much as be the identical each single time. His fingers are in all probability an inch or two longer than mine, so with the ball being deeper in his hand, it’s not essentially coming off the fingers constantly each single time. Until you may have excessive proprioception of your fingers to make it work on a constant foundation, it’d come off just a little in another way.
“Guys with large palms are nice candidates for a split-finger fastball, so that will get explored in some unspecified time in the future. However his changeup has been actually good at occasions. Once more, his fastball is so distinctive that the present changeup he’s engaged on has been in a position to produce some fairly good outcomes. It’s a matter of getting extra per it.”
Laurila: Who else on the workers has a notable changeup?
Mann: “I actually like Lake Bachar’s break up. It pairs off of his different pitches extraordinarily nicely, and he’s comfy throwing it to each righties and lefties, which supplies it versatility. The fantastic thing about the break up is that you simply simply grip it and rip it. You discover the appropriate seam orientation, then grip and rip. You consider you’re throwing a fastball with that grip, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a righty or lefty within the batter’s field. That’s the mentality he has when he’s on the market throwing it.
“Ronny Henriquez has a very good changeup. The motion profile is unbelievable. He may get it within the zone just a little extra, although. It’s only a chase pitch for him.
“Ryan Weathers’ is de facto, actually good. I’m a giant fan of his changeup. He’s one of many few lefties on the market who could be very comfy throwing it left-on-left. When you may have the power to go to the identical hand, inside, along with your changeup, it opens up quite a bit to your different pitches. Changeups try this generally.”