Fixing the changeup will be key for Jakob Junis

Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY SportsJakob Junis was impressive in his first spring training start against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Through three innings, Junis gave up three hits, a walk and four strikeouts while allowing one run. His pitches were well sequenced and showed some nice movement. What I felt he did best was impede hitter timing as evidenced by his velocity chart below.

*Not the heartbeat of a sugared-up childHere’s a visual example of how Junis worked hitters. This is a three-pitch strikeout of Jake Lamb which saw his pitch sequence go 92 MPH four-seam, to 84 MPH changeup, to 93 MPH sinker.

The quality of hitters Junis faced (OppQual), according to Baseball Reference, was rated a…