CHICAGO — Euclides Rojas grabbed a baseball, walked over to Edgar Santana in the bullpen last June, and formed a circle on the side of the ball with his right index finger and thumb. The changeup grip, Rojas, the Pirates' bullpen coach, said, would be the key for Santana to have success in the major leagues.
Then, Rojas told Santana who used the exact same four-seam grip: Pedro Martinez, the Hall-of-Fame right-handed starting pitcher whom Santana idolized as a child in the Dominican Republic. Santana, the Pirates' promising 26-year-old right-handed reliever, smiled, nodded in approval and gave the grip a few tries in the bullpen. The result was a pitch that could potentially get big-league hitters out when his wipeout slider isn't effective.
Santana was hesitant to throw changeups during his first abbreviated season with the Pirates in 2017; however, he's turned to the pitch in his past two outings, and it bailed him out when his best pitch was ineffective.
"I got it, I got the changeup now," Santana said, beaming. "I was scared to throw it because I thought they’d hit a home run. But I’ve got it now. I’m trusting that pitch right now. I’m throwing it more than my slider right now."
Santana threw only a handful of changeups in his 18 innings with the Pirates last season, relying on his four-seam fastball, sinker and slider. The result was a 1.55 WHIP with 20 strikeouts and 12 walks. His slider has received glowing reviews from Clint Hurdle, the Pirates' pitching coaches and their two catchers, but Santana has found it difficult to grip the pitch in the cold weather this season.
That, along with what he described as nerves, contributed to his ugly outing last Monday at PNC Park, when Santana allowed two runs, the result of back-to-back RBI doubles in the sixth inning, to nearly lose a four-run lead over the Twins. He then realized what was missing.
Rather than relying on his sinker to induce weak contact — he also had trouble gripping that pitch because of the cold — Santana has turned to the changeup. Although Statcast didn't record the pitches as changeups, Santana used four in his past two scoreless outings, including an 86 mph pitch to strikeout Adam Duvall to lead off the sixth inning Wednesday. He didn't throw one slider against the Reds on Thursday either, opting instead for two changeups and four sinkers.
For Santana, his comfort throwing the pitch began with the grip.
"He’s gotten more confidence with it," Rojas said Monday morning at Wrigley Field. "He needed to add that to his repertoire because it can be a lot tougher for those hitters. It's finally become a good pitch for him. Every human body is different, and every pitcher’s hand is different, too. What we tried to do was give him a comfortable grip. That’s what Ray Searage and I like to do. Every guy is different. They need to be comfortable, so they can execute the pitch and have confidence with it."
Hurdle echoed Rojas' thoughts: "At this level, you need some weapons. Not every day you have a good slider. That’s something he’s been known for and everybody talked about in the minor leagues, that he’s got this wipeout slider. Well, there’s been days he’s pitched in the major leagues that he hasn’t had that wipeout slider. If you don’t have a wipeout slider and all you have is a fastball up here, you’re going to end up back on the bases. ... To have a really solid plan B or plan C, [Francisco] Cervelli knowing, Elias [Diaz] knowing, we’ve got another option, we’ve got another weapon. And now the ability for him to throw it to both right- and left-handers makes him more of a complete pitcher."
Without that weapon, Santana struggled upon reaching the majors last June. Left-handers batted .357/.486/.679 against him, and opponents had a .286 average against his sinker, which produced only 12 swing-and-misses. But the slider was difficult for right-handers to track, as they batted only .154 against him when he threw that pitch.
The pitch helped Santana ascend quickly through the minor leagues after signing with the Pirates only four days before his 22nd birthday. He was throwing a four-seam fastball and curveball then, but he learned how to throw a slider while playing in the Dominican Summer League in 2014.
He reached Triple-A only two years later, only to struggle against more advanced hitters. That's when the Pirates implored Santana to begin to learn a changeup. It would prevent opponents from sitting on his 95 mph four-seam fastball and 95 mph sinker.
He began using a two-seam grip on the changeup, but he couldn't get comfortable throwing it and the pitch wasn't breaking. Not having the pitch didn't prevent him from having success in 2017, though. Santana had a 2.79 ERA and 1.27 WHIP with 54 strikeouts to 12 walks in 58 innings at Triple-A.
Then, he struggled with command upon reaching the major leagues. Santana needed 15 or more pitches to complete five of his first seven outings, and he never pitched more than one inning.
"Last year, when I came here, I walked a lot of guys because I was thinking if I put the ball right in the middle, this guy is going to hit a home run," he said. "It doesn’t work like that, though. To hit isn’t easy, especially when the ball has movement, when there’s a good slider, a good changeup."
He had three separate stints with the Pirates last season, throwing 8 1/3 scoreless innings to finish the season. Santana spent the offseason focusing on throwing his changeup effectively. However, he was still uneasy about doing so against big-league hitters. That changed in spring training, when he used the pitch to post a 1.09 WHIP in 11 innings, striking out nine with only one walk.
"In spring training, I threw it and I saw the impact," Santana said. "It made the hitters uncomfortable. They weren’t hitting the ball well. The changeup can look like the fastball. Guys thought it was the fastball."
The Pirates are in need of a reliable middle reliever. After all, opponents have batted .386 against their pitching in the sixth inning, scoring 11 runs on 17 hits. Santana has 0.60 WHIP in 3 1/3 innings — left-handers are 1 for 7 against him — and he expressed confidence he'll have the changeup in addition to his most effective pitch sooner than later.
"I’m not worried about the slider," Santana said. "I know I’ve got it. I know it’s in my pocket. It’s coming. Now, I've got the changeup too. I've got it."