Blue Jays Pitching Notebook: Berríos’ New Changeup, Pop’s Sinker, and More

Notes on José Berríos new changeup, Adam Cimber's tweaked setup, Zach Pop's Sinker and other Blue Jays pitchers.

Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Four of José Berríos' first six pitches against the Rays were changeups.

He got Brandon Lowe chasing the change for his first strikeout and earned two more Ks with it later in the game. The changeup is Berríos' clear fourth option, never throwing it more than 16% of the time in a full season. But, with a few tweaks, it could climb the pecking order.

Berríos slightly altered his changeup grip before Friday's start, but the bigger adjustment was a change of sights, per pitching coach Pete Walker. 

In the past, the righty's misses with the change were off the plate away, easy takes. Now, Berríos targets the heart of the zone, letting the pitch's natural movement dance it down to the corner. Look at where Danny Jansen flashes his glove in the GIF below—right down the middle:

One of Berríos' three strikeouts via the changeup on April 14th against the Rays

Any misses now should be below the zone, where batters are still enticed to chase the change. Against the Rays, Berríos drew four whiffs on six swings with the delivery.

"Our focus now is on the plate, carrying the plate down," Walker said. "And I think that made a big difference."

Opponents have been stacking lefty hitters against Berríos lately, to great effect. But, a refined change could be a "huge pitch" to mitigate those lefty bats, Walker said. Changeups move down and away from left-handers, out of the danger zones, and the off-speed will also keep batters from sitting on his two fastballs.

"He's always had a good changeup," Walker said. "But it hasn't been as effective as it should have been."

On Adam Cimber's Setup

In the weeks before the Blue Jays traded for Adam Cimber in June 2021, the sidearmer changed his pre-pitch setup. At the beginning of the 2021 season (shown below) Cimber's heel hung off the back of the rubber, but he started migrating across to the third base side of the bump.

The shift helped Cimber become more effective against lefties. In his first two MLB seasons, LHB hit over .300 against Cimber. Since joining the Jays, that number's down to .203. From the third-base side of the rubber, the fastball comes up-and-in at a sharper angle to lefties and sliders look a little more enticing to the righties.

Coming into Spring Training this year, Cimber tinkered with a further extreme. The sidewinder moved even closer to third base so that just his heel was hanging off the rubber (middle image, below). The shift moved his release point to an unparalleled spot, but the righty felt it caused him to yank the ball back toward the plate and contributed to shoulder soreness in spring. He's backed off the edge a bit, entering the season with "just" his toes dangling off the rubber. But the tinkering isn't over yet.

"Still kind of playing with it," Cimber said.

Cimber's pre-pitch setup over time, with the part of his foot hanging off the rubber highlighted

On Zach Pop's Sinker (and Slider)

Zach Pop's always had a nasty sinker. He threw it 94 MPH with break back in high school and it was his primary pitch when the Dodgers drafted him in 2017.

It's always had the high velo and filthy movement, but, for whatever reason, it's been more of a groundball pitch than strikeout weapon. Last year, Pop posted a 15.9% strikeout rate. But, so far this year, it's up to 37.9%.

Zach Pop, Unfair 96mph Sinker. 😲 pic.twitter.com/OZvhjEqvjT

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 15, 2023

The Canadian righty's been doing two things differently in 2023. His first tweak is throwing the sinker more backdoor to right-handed batters (clipping the far side of the zone). In the past, he almost exclusively used the pitch to his arm side (inside on righties, away from lefties). When batters could sit on that arm-side sinker, they'd at least foul it off or put the ball in play. When they have to cover both sides, the whiffs skyrocket.

"By going in more, I think it opens up away," Pop said.

The second adjustment was a tweak to the slider grip, generating more vertical depth and, at least so far, a sizeable increase in whiff rate. In 2022, Pop's swing-and-miss rate with the slider was 20.8%, this year it's up to 38.1%. That's 38% slider whiff rate is comparable to Carlos Rodon, Robbie Ray, and Luis Castillo's from 2022.

"It's just something I tried, and it ended up working out," Pop said of the new slider grip.