Jeremy Hellickson talked after his second start of the Spring last week about working on a new pitch, a slider, that he said he hoped he could work into his repertoire this season.
Hellickson threw six different pitches in 2018, according to Fangraphs and PitchFx, mixing in a sinker (.310 BAA), changeup (.183), curve (.212), four-seamer (.237), cutter (.217), and a splitter (.000 on 20 splitters). So now he’s trying to add a seventh pitch?
“I just think nowadays a slider is a big strikeout pitch and I’ve just never had one,” Hellickson said, as quoted by MASN’s Pete Kerzel, after the right-hander gave up two hits and a run in a three-inning outing against the Miami Marlins last week.