Pittsburgh Pirates Bullpen: The Changeup

Analysis: AJ Schugel became a Pittsburgh Pirate on January 19, 2016, when the team selected him off waivers from the Seattle Mariners. Felipe Rivero came over from the Washington Nationals in the Mark Melancon deal on July 30, 2016. Tony Watson has been a mainstay in the bullpen for the Pirates since his debut in 2011. All three possess devastating changeups.

There are multiple ways to define how good a pitch is. The slugging percentage off a certain pitch, the spin rate of the pitch, how whiff percentage, Fangraphs’ linear weight values, among others. There is also ways to quantify how well a pitcher plays the pitch off another, thanks to Baseball Prospectus’ pitch tunnel stats. The…