“I’m a huge believer in the changeup,” Washington Nationals’ pitching coach Jim Hickey told reporters after he was hired as part of Davey Martinez’s staff earlier this winter.
“I don’t force anybody to throw changeups,” Hickey added, “but if I see something — a lot of guys don’t like the changeup because it’s not a sexy pitch — it’s not a huge swing and a miss pitch for a lot of guys, but there’s a lot of outs in there and there’s a lot of efficiency in there and at the end of the year, there’s a lot more innings in there as well if you can do that.