One of the most exciting parts of baseball is the plethora of pitches that get thrown. They all behave slightly differently, moving in different directions, from North to South to East to West.
Every year, several pitchers learn new pitches that can improve their arsenals. Some of these have changed their careers, as pitchers like Corbin Burnes have gone from unwanted to ace-caliber with minor tweaks to what they throw.
It is important for fantasy managers to keep up-to-date with these new pitches knowing how they can completely transform the careers of players. Here are five big-name pitchers who have seen their fantasy stocks improve drastically due to adding great new pitches.
We’ve talked about Garrett Crochet a lot this year, largely because he has been one of the year’s nicest surprises. His basic stats are great, and his underlying numbers are perhaps greater.
Crochet was thrust into the starter role this year, getting the Opening Day honors. He hadn’t made a single start at the MLB level in his career. In addition to his role changing in a major way, his arsenal saw an added pitch that completely changed the game plan against him.
Crochet first used his cutter in the opening game against Detroit, although it only made up 9.2% of the pitches thrown. Since then, he has gradually upped its usage in his arsenal, leading to him becoming basically a two-pitch pitcher. Since the start of June, he has thrown over 90% fastballs between his four-seamer and cutter, basically abandoning the changeup and slider.
Crochet in 2024 has become one of the premiere strikeout artists in the game. This is because he gets a lot of whiffs. He currently leads all qualified starters in swinging strike rate, as well as strikeout percentage. Crochet has gone from an interesting project reliever to a starter who is getting the Chris Sale comparison. It’s crazy that this man who probably went undrafted in your league is now one of the most valuable pieces you can find, and that’s largely because of the change in arsenal.
We all knew that Paul Skenes was going to be good, but did anybody think he would be this good, this early?
The talk about Skenes coming up was his unhittable 102 mph heater, as he showed that you don’t necessarily need the elite vertical movement and/or funky release points to have a great fastball. And while yes, this fastball has been completely unhittable, he has another pitch that is perhaps the best in baseball.
Some pitches are nasty in a vacuum. Others are effective because of the way they interact with the other pitches in the arsenal. And then of course we have those pitches that are nasty because the pitcher can constantly command and execute them. The point we’re getting at is that Paul Skenes‘ splitter is all three of these. In many ways, it feels like the starter version of the nasty demon splinker employed by Jhoan Duran. Except, Skenes actually commands his high-velocity splitter ridiculously well.
Skenes is already one of the best fantasy aces there is, and you can thank his newfound splitter/sinker hybrid for that.
The magic of Logan Gilbert is that he is constantly improving his arsenal. He came into the majors as a pitcher known for his standard fastball-slider combination. Since breaking through, however, he has constantly brought new pitches into the mix, with the most recent being his cutter
It’s fascinating how many pitchers have had their careers revitalized by cutters. We already mentioned Crochet, but more obvious examples like Corbin Burnes and Mariano Rivera showcase that cutters can be game changers.
The cutter hasn’t saved Gilbert’s career per se. It is notable that his cutter is one of the least-used pitches on this list, as he only uses it 15% of the time. However, the addition of it into his arsenal has allowed him to make that full-fledged jump to being in consideration for the ace title.
Gilbert has constantly been knocking on the door of being a highly sought-after fantasy pitcher, but it looks like it took the cutter for him to fully take his game to the level that we are seeing now.
Taj Bradley has really come into his own this season.
There are lots of questions about his command, but his new approach to pitching is allowing him to thrive.
It starts with the splitter.
Bradley had an offspeed pitch last year that he used sparingly to mixed results. He tweaked it a bit and upped its use, creating the splitter, his new favorite secondary pitch. The four-seamer up, splitter down strategy has allowed Bradley to rack up strikeouts and the occasional quick out.
The implementation of Bradley’s splitter has allowed him to move up a few tiers in starting pitcher rankings. As he continues to become more confident with it, expect his results to continue to improve.
We are back to talking about cutters!
Bailey Ober isn’t necessarily having the most eye-popping season. There have been some really cold stretches throughout his year, which have made him not the most appealing fantasy option.
However, when you look at his underlying stuff, you realize that Ober is a pitcher who is worth hedging the success of your fantasy team on.
One of the most impressive aspects of Ober’s game is his new cutter. By adding a cutter to his pitch mix, Ober was able to kick his mediocre curveball to the curb.
We all know Ober as the guy who gives you about a strikeout per nine across six innings while giving up a few runs, but the cutter has the potential to be the missing piece that will get Ober into that borderline ace contention.
Featured image by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter and @EthanMKaplan on Instagram)