Melancon said he made a change with his “hip hinge,” something that pitching coach Brent Strom described as Melancon “getting into his back leg” more as he started his delivery.
Strom said the club’s physical therapist, Ben Hagar, was looking back at video from Melancon’s time with the San Diego Padres and noticed the difference.
“Instead of (his right knee) just being straight and falling,” Strom said, “he would get into his back leg and that helped create a little bit better power through the middle of the body, which then works its way up the chain and helped his cutter a great deal, which was evident in (Saturday’s) game.