LAKELAND, Fla. -- Chase De Jong started to tinker with a slider when he was sent down to Class Low-A with the Blue Jays in 2015. It didn't start to click though until he was with the Dodgers' later that season when his pitching coach, Bill Simas, taught him the curveball he threw over his six-year major-league career.
Ever since then, ever slider De Jong has throw has been a Simas slider, one of the few areas of his game where he hasn't tinkered over these past eight years of baseball. Last year, it ended up being one of the best sliders in baseball.