When AJ Smith-Shawver busted out the changeup in his start against the Rockies, it wasn’t like he hadn’t thrown it before. Even in his first career start, coming against the Nationals, he threw six of them — but most didn’t draw swings, and the only real benefit he got from the pitch was getting Corey Dickerson to throw the bat out and pull an easy grounder to second on a well-placed one.
Fast-forward to his next start, though, and while the changeup wasn’t executed perfectly every time, it was nasty. Check these out, in order.
The first one he threw was the first pitch of leadoff guy Jurickson Profar’s second time up.