Determining why Chris Paddack was so good in his rookie year with the San Diego Padres is not difficult. The 24-year-old made 26 starts – albeit on an innings count – while tossing 140.2 innings to go along with 153 strikeouts. Had he qualified, his 3.33 ERA would have been good enough for 17th best in baseball. Not bad for a rookie.
MLB recently identified pitchers with the best changeups in baseball, and Paddack was listed as one of them. They noted that the perceived difference from both his fastball and changeup at the release point looks relatively the same, thus producing some silly at-bats from the opposition.