The kick change has kick-started the New York Mets' rotation

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NEW YORK -- Clay Holmes, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning have a few obvious things in common. They're right-handed pitchers. They're members of a Mets starting rotation that has so far trounced external expectations, posting the lowest collective ERA in baseball. And, for different reasons, each is striving to prove he belongs.

Dig a little deeper, though, and another connection can be found, hidden within each of their pitch arsenals this season: the kick change, a changeup-splitter hybrid that has surged in popularity since San Francisco Giants right-hander Hayden Birdsong introduced it to Major League Baseball a year ago.

Holmes began working on the pitch in November,…