:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/32043853/483549895.0.jpg)
When Jake Odorizzi came over from the Kansas City Royals in the James Shields trade, he was an undeniably valuable chip, but not necessarily the most exciting pitcher to have in the Rays' system. While his fastball had good rising movement, he no longer threw with the mid-90s velocity that had impressed scouts early in his career. And even though command and "pitchability" has always been a strength of Odorizzi, there were plenty of people who were worried that he didn't really have an "out pich."
Here's what I wrote in a PITCHf/x scouting report before his first start with the Rays last year:
His 84 mph changeup is fairly straight, yet neither does it precisely mirror the movement of his fastball. For success with his changeup, Odorizzi will need to rely on establishing his fastball and then selling the pitch with arm speed.
Well, there was another option that I didn't consider. He could scrap his old changeup, work with Alex Cobb, and start the season throwing a split-change, much the way Cobb does. He calls it "The Thing."
Look at these T-shirts @JakeOdorizzi bought for himself and @Acobb53, in honor of "The Thing" pitch Cobb taught him: pic.twitter.com/VCgDqCgA5z
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 11, 2014
Let's take a look at Thing One and Thing Two, and compare them to Odorizzi's old changeup. All velocities are in the mid-80s. I will be using Brooks Baseball numbers and classifications. Here's a movement chart from the catcher's perspective:
Two obvious notes:
- Odorizzi's new split-fingered pitch is unquestionably distinct from his old changeup. There's much more drop to the pitch, and it's probably better (we'll look at results in a second).
- Thing Two is not the same as Thing One. Alex Cobb's splitter is a ridiculous, game-changing pitch. Odorizzi's version is not nearly as extreme.
| Odorizzi Changeup | Odorizzi Splitter | Cobb Splitter | |
| Usage | 16% | 33% | 34% |
| Strike | 19% | 27% | 25% |
| Swing | 46% | 51% | 62% |
| Foul/Swing | 51% | 27% | 34% |
| Whiff/Swing | 20% | 24% | 28% |
| BIP | 14% | 26% | 23% |
| GB/BIP | 31% | 68% | 62% |
- Odor's old changeup wasn't something he could throw all that often. His new splitter is. Both he and Alex Cobb now use their splitters a full third of the time. That, by itself, means that their other pitches are less exposed and will play up.
- Odorizzi records strikes at a much higher rate with his new splitter than he did with his old change. It's a rate similar to Cobb's.
- Batters are swinging at Odor's splitter more often than they did at his changeup. Still, with its greater movement, it's more difficult to hit. More swings at a pitch that's more difficult to hit mean good things for the pitcher. He still doesn't get as many swings with his splitter as Cobb does, which is ridiculous, because Cobb's split falls off the table like few other offerings in the major leagues (meaning that hitters really can't square it up, but they keep trying).
- Odorizzi really wasn't able to put batters away with his changeup. They fouled it off 50% of the time. The new splitter is fouled much less often. Instead it's being whiffed at or put in play.
- The new splitter does get more whiffs than the old one did, even if not quite as many as Cobb's elite pitch.
- The new splitter is put in play far more often than the old changeup had been (and slightly more often, so far, than Alex Cobb's version). Being put in play is okay, because . . .
- . . . A huge percentage of the balls put in play against the splitter are groundballs. While Odorizzi's changeup was a fly ball pitch, his splitter has produced 68% groundballs so far this season. Groundballs are a good thing with an infield defense as strong as the Rays have, and there's research to suggest that extreme groundball pitchers are actually giving up softer groundballs than normal. I would be shocked if that's not true of extreme groundball pitches as well. Both of "The Things" are extreme groundball pitches.