TT: Zach Britton -The Brave Work in Progress

[Tony-OH]

Tony-

I'm actually surprised they have let him get this far without developing a 3rd pitch. That is something, in my experience that they'd have him working on at high A ball and by the end of the year having that be a viable pitch before reaching AA ball.

And who's to say the O's haven't already been in his back pocket trying to get him to work on this pitch at the lower A levels but he wasn't comfortable in doing it. But I do find it odd, that he's waited until he's gotten to AA to work on a pitch. That's what A ball is for. There is a reason in A ball you see some of the weirdest things you'll ever see on a baseball diamond. Every team has projects and are looking for that needle in a hay stack.

Britton is not alone on not working on certain aspects of his game in the lower levels. The Orioles can harp on pitchers all they like, but unless they throw down the gauntlet and force pitchers into throwing a certain number of certain types of pitches, they can't control what these guy do on the mound.

As i explained, there's a conundrum that occurs. They now they need to work on things but they want to have success. Britton normally worked on his change up on his "bullpen" days. His changeup did show some improvements last year but that was basically because he barely threw it before Frederick.

This is what development is all about. Each pitcher is different in that certain things come to them at different rates. Britton changed his breaking pitch from a slurvy curveball to a slider between Aberdeen and Delmarva and spent a year trying to get the feel for the true slider.

Frederick was all about improving the depth of that slider, increasing velocity while improving command. By his own account he now wishes he had worked a bit more on the change up last year in games, but it is what it is.

He's now putting in the time at AA to improve his change up. If it's like the rest of his development, in the end, he'll get it down.

Remember, these guys have the same velocity and movement that a lot of big leaguers have. There's a reason why there are levels to work on things. Every pitcher in the minor leaguers is going through something similar. Every pitcher is different so you just can't have a cookie cutter approach to development at each level.

The development of Britton's change up will determine his ceiling at the major leagues and like I said, some guys refuse to work on these things in games until they reach the major leagues because of their concerns about putting up bad stats.

[LookinUp]

The development of Britton's change up will determine his ceiling at the major leagues and like I said, some guys refuse to work on these things in games until they reach the major leagues because of their concerns about putting up bad stats.

Am I too quick to say that his optimal start of ML service time would appear to be mid 2011 at the earliest?

It seems like he has a lot of work still to do in refining the change up. I'm willing to wait, for sure.

[Tony-OH]

Well, what I was trying to convey is that by AA ball it should of been a viable pitch for him, not work in progress.. he should be refining the pitch now.. not trying figure out if he can throw it. That's all i'm saying.

Viable= a useful pitch

I know some of you guys will have a hard time with that word, so I figured I'd clarify.

Why are you taking shots at people? If you read through the piece thoroughly you'd see that he's changed his grip and he's working on that particular grip to see if he can get a good feel for the pitch. I also noted several times now why pitchers stick with their strength at the lower levels and some all the way to the big leagues.

I can't remember how many times I've been told by a pitcher that he didn't want to get beat on his third best pitch.

[Tony-OH]

Am I too quick to say that his optimal start of ML service time would appear to be mid 2011 at the earliest?

It seems like he has a lot of work still to do in refining the change up. I'm willing to wait, for sure.

With Arrieta and Tillman ahead of him I'd say that's probably right. He could be up there before then and survive with his current stuff but if you want a more developed guy mid-2011 seems about right.

Kranitz has also talked to him about adding a slower curve eventually as well so we may see that given to him next year or they may wait until he establishes himself in the majors then give him another twist. With that sinker/slider combo any kind of slow curve he could throw for strikes would be a plus.

However, injuries could change that and if thing start to go real well that timeline could be moved up.

[sfosfan]

Great report. It does make a lot of sense that once a pitcher hits AA they are less likely to try something new- the "if it ain't broke why fix it" logic. But I think you do a disservice to players by not encouraging them to develop the way Zach is doing, and the earlier pitchers figure that out the better. Barry Zito is a classic example. Barry finally realized his fastball isn't what it used to be, and after many merciless beatings, he swallowed his pride and became Jamie Moyer. Better late than never.

I'm wondering though, do the O's do a good, fair, or poor job of this? Seems like the Ray Miller days of work fast and change speeds are long gone.

Go O's!

sfosfan

[Greg Pappas]

One of the hardest things to get a minor league player to do is try something different. This is especially hard when a player is experiencing success with what they are currently doing. Time after time I’ve seen guys in the minor leagues have success but knew they would not have success in the major leagues doing the same thing.

A few guys jump into mind when I think about this fact. Jeff Fiorentino was a 22-year old who hit 22 home runs in Frederick in 455 PA. However, Fiorentino was generating his power by crowding the plate and looking fastball in since he knew A-Ball pitchers would want to get in on his hands. He was generating pull power but once he got to more advanced pitchers, they just started to pitch him away with soft stuff and his power numbers shrunk up. From what I heard, the Orioles tried to work with him to change his approach but Fiorentino did not want to change. He’s now playing in Japan and has a career .324 SLG in 483 major league PAs.

Pitcher-wise, I’ve seen numerous pitchers come through the system having success by being a two-pitch pitcher or by throwing curveballs in the dirt or taking a fastball up the ladder. In AA, this approach will work if the stuff is decent. Unfortunately, when they reach the big leagues they find out that big league batters don’t chase too many curveballs in the dirt nor are they fooled by fastball up in the zone.

However, there’s a conundrum for the minor league player. You have to put up numbers to get promoted, but working on a new pitch or grip during a game most likely is not the best way to put up those gaudy stats that get people to notice you.

Case in point, Zach Britton had a tremendous year last year at Frederick where is was the Carolina League pitcher of the year after putting up a 2.70 ERA while striking out 131 batters in 140 innings while getting 3.38 ground outs to every air out.

By all accounts it was a dominant year. It was a year he established his hard 89-92 MPH sinker as a dominant pitch as well as establishing his slider as an out pitch at times. By his own accounts he said he probably threw 80-85% sinkers in most starts last year with a mixture of four-seamers and sliders making up the bulk of the other 15-20%. He threw very few changeups even though the Orioles were harping on him to include more changeups. He just never had the confidence or comfort ability in a changeup grip and besides, he didn’t need it to get A-ball hitters out last year.

This spring, Britton went up to his friend Brian Matusz in Sarasota and said, “I’ll teach you my sinker grip if you teach me your changeup grip.” So with that, Britton began working on the Matusz changeup grip in an attempt to find a grip he can become comfortable with. Just as a side-note, according to Britton, Matusz took to the sinker grip while they played catch but I’ll need to check with Matusz to see if it’s something he’s included into his loaded arsenal this season.

The conundrum hit again once the season started at Double-A. Wanting to get off to a good start and to see how his sinker-slider combo worked against Double-A hitters, Britton used that combo almost exclusively through his first two starts. It was clear to him that combo was going to be very effective against Double-A hitters so he decided it was time to pull out that changeup and start using it game situations.

His last five starts have been a mix bag of results as he tries to find the right time to use that changeup as well as find the command of the pitch. He’s left the pitch up and out over the plate several times including the three-run homer hit off him in his last start. That home run particularly troubled Britton since it was on a 1-2 count and his instincts told him to throw the sinker. That thought process is all part of the developmental process. Picking his spots better on when to throw the changeup and obviously command of the pitch remains a work in progress.

Although some fans who just look at the boxscores and don’t see last year’s dominance have begun to get worried, I’m actually even more impressed that he’s willing to work on his changeup now instead of getting to the big leagues as a two-pitch guy. Trust me, Britton could go back to his two-pitch repertoire (three-pitch if you count the occasional four-seam fastball) and reach the major leagues, but he knows in order to maximize his potential he’ll need that changeup.

Right now, with Jake Arrieta and Chris Tillman ahead of him on the minor league depth chart, the chances of him seeing Camden Yards this season is pretty slim. The Orioles know what they have in Zach Britton and they know what he’s working on. Regardless, it takes a brave guy to work on things outside of his comfort level when you get as close Double-A. Afterall, all the players know that once they reach Double-A they are just a phone call away, so they all want to be on that hot streak.

So when you look at those boxscores, remember Britton is working on the things that will enable him to stay in the big leagues once he gets there. Don’t be discouraged by his lack of dominant numbers and be impressed that we have a young hurler with the confidence and bravery to work on things now instead of when he reaches the big leagues.

Despite working on things, his numbers are not that bad and some bad luck has also made his stats look a little worse than they really are. I’m planning to see Britton this Friday night at Bowie and hopefully I’ll see that work in progress get a little more closer to being complete.

I’ll be sure to let everyone know what I saw during our “minor league forum” during Hangout Night pregame festivities at the Nest.

Simply- outstanding. Both your post and Britton's attitude.

[soxhotcorner14]

Why are you taking shots at people? If you read through the piece thoroughly you'd see that he's changed his grip and he's working on that particular grip to see if he can get a good feel for the pitch. I also noted several times now why pitchers stick with their strength at the lower levels and some all the way to the big leagues.

I can't remember how many times I've been told by a pitcher that he didn't want to get beat on his third best pitch.

I'm not taking shots at people, I'm just simply clarifying what I meant by "viable". People tend to nitpick words to death and I wanted to get that out of the way. Pump the breaks here

I understand what you're saying Tony. How pitchers don't tend to work on pitches because they're concerned about stats and advancing in the system. I also understand there isn't a cookie cutter approach as you have pointed out. Everyone is different and you can't say, this year we are working on everyone's cut fastball. I get all of that....

But what I'm saying is, this should of been hammered home in spring training by his pitching coaches, instructional league, winter league etc... if that's something the O's think he needs development on. There is plenty of time for him to get a feel for the grip of the ball and make this a viable pitch in his arsenal where he doesn't have to worry about putting up stats to further his career with the Baltimore Orioles. And by no means am I saying the O's haven't done any of this.. They might have had several sessions and talks with Britton already. I'm not pointing a finger here just trying to have an open dialogue as to why a pitcher is now trying to get a feel for a change up in AA ball?

I've been in pre-game meetings where the pitcher, myself and the pitching coach go over the game plan on how we are going to attack hitters and how we are going to work in something that particular pitcher is trying to develop at what stages in the game that can be thrown. To work on getting that pitcher comfortable throwing that pitch in game situations. And to be honest, if the pitcher doesn't want to work on that pitch that's when the head coach gets involved and starts calling pitches. Most of these managers have directives from the FO to get certain players to develop under their watch. Numbers aren't the only thing that moves a prospect up the ladder. I've sat in the coaches office while he dialed back his report to the GM on each player..in the reports it will list how many times a pitcher threw a certain pitch, which counts, velocity, location etc... (For the record, I only had input on that pitcher, I didn't know everyone's writeup) one reason for the pitch charts everyone sees the pitchers in the stands doing at minor league games. Trust me, we can get int a long discussion about this subject.. but bottom line the FO wants you working on certain things while you're in A ball. They want to see improvement is areas of weakness. They lay all of these out for you in spring training/instructional league/winter ball. Those are the places you work on those things, regular season is where you make it happen in a live situation.

So as you can see my POV is a little different and I was curious as to why this is going on so late in his development. I enjoyed your writeup.. I tend to like these types of write ups a lot more than some of the beat writers stuff because there is actual content of the day to day life of the minor leaguers.

[olehippi]

Tony....fantastic post!! This kind of insight is what originally drew me to OH.

[Art Wing]

Nice post Tony. I learned quit a bit. Thanks.

[lordbrook]

Very nice. I like to consider myself well studied in all things sports, but I've never thought about pitchers like this. I really appreciate the fact that if I want to improve my job performance I can take night classes and not have to screw up my day job.

[The Rick]

Thanks Tony, great insight and perspective as always! Does this situation apply to any other minor leaguers who are "struggling" on paper?

[Cokeman]

I'm not taking shots at people, I'm just simply clarifying what I meant by "viable". People tend to nitpick words to death and I wanted to get that out of the way. Pump the breaks here

Brakes, not breaks.

[allstar1579]

If he's throwing it with BM's grip, I imagine it will be a slight breaking change, I wonder how similar it will look to his sinker, that could be a deadly combo if he gets the feel for throwing it, when guys are expecting that hard sinker and then they are a good step in front of the pitch.

Look forward to your recap after you see him.

[Guest rochester]

What a great read! Thank you!

[BaltimoreTerp]

Great info. Thanks, Tony.