Getting a Grip: How Yankees relievers vary the same pitch

Brad Penner-USA TODAY SportsWhen the Yankees signed Adam Ottavino, I was excited that the team had acquired a reliever coming off a dominant season. More importantly, though, I was thrilled at the chance to see his absolutely ridiculous stuff up close. Ottavino’s trademark slider produces some of the most desperate swings and misses you’ll see in the game today, such as this comical attempt by Dansby Swanson last year.

I fell in love with relief pitchers because they do things like that; you never look sillier as an MLB hitter than you do against guys like Ottavino, or Dellin Betances, or Aroldis Chapman. What a coincidence, all three of those guys pitch in the same bullpen.

Naturally, I was…