Tahnaj Thomas: Refocus On Slider Leading To Better Results

ALTOONA, Pa. - Tahnaj Thomas was always going to have an uphill mountain to climb, making the switch from a position player to pitcher when he turned pro.

He had the raw tools, which included the ability to hit triple-digits at times. It was a matter of learning to pitch and harnessing that fastball.

Over the last two years, there’s been a lot of fine tuning to Thomas’ game to get his command under control. That included dialing back his fastball, he added a hesitation/leg kick last year, and recently the Pirates shifted him to the bullpen for the 2022 season.

While throwing in the upper-90s works really well out the bullpen, Thomas was going to need to improve on his other pitches if he…