SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Beyond the technology that measured the spin rate, axis, pitch shape and release point, all of which suggested that it would beneficial to try something different, there needed to be trust. Besides the results of the past few seasons, and the constant battle to find consistency with a pitch that just didn’t want to be harnessed, there needed to be conviction.
Those two aspects, both immeasurable by empirical data, remained vital for this sort of drastic change to work at this point in spring training and at this key time in Justus Sheffield’s young baseball career.