PHOENIX — While pitchers around Major League Baseball have changed, Ivan Nova has remained the same. Nova, the leader of the Pirates' pitching staff, is still relying on a two-seam fastball.
When executed properly, the sinking fastball can generate quick outs, as Nova powerfully illustrated Sunday at Wrigley Field. The 31-year-old produced eight ground-ball outs to one fly out while throwing 29 two-seam fastballs. The pitch induced a double play to help him escape a jam in the fifth and kept him efficient, despite only 11 first-pitch strikes.
Nova, though, represents an outlier around baseball. Pitchers have stopped using the two-seamer as a featured pitch or shelved it altogether. However, it remains a pillar of the Pirates' pitching philosophy. While two-seam/sinker usage has dropped steadily since 2010, the Pirates have thrown the fourth-most in the National League this season.
"It’s kind of funny because you’ll hear a lot of theories that the two-seamer has gone away," Clint Hurdle said. "I think the guys that didn’t throw good ones have stopped throwing them and have started throwing more four-seamers. That’s what I think. Some guys who were actually throwing four-seamers are throwing two-seamers and saying, ‘Wait, that thing moves pretty good.”
Two-seamer usage around the league peaked at 22.5 percent in 2010, per PITCHf/x data. It's been thrown only 17.8 percent of the time this season. Meanwhile, four-seam fastball usage has increased steadily around the league over the past five seasons.
The two-seamer and sinker has accounted for more than 22 percent of the Pirates' pitches — a two percent increase from 2017 — and two of their five starters use it as a featured pitch. Nova has thrown 43.9 percent two-seam fastballs, compared to 26.1 percent four-seamers, producing a 52 percent ground-ball rate. Chad Kuhl has thrown his two-seamer 40.2 percent of the time with only 20.8 percent four-seamers.
Gerrit Cole, the former ace of the Pirates' staff, used the two-seamer as a featured pitch during his time in Pittsburgh, and it resulted in a ground-ball rate of at least 48 percent in each of his first three seasons. But he threw the pitch 11.6 percent of the time last season, resulting in a .255 opponent's batting average.
It was his second-worst pitch behind his four-seam fastball, but it had a whiff rate of only 6.8 percent — nearly 14 percent less than his four-seamer. As a result, the Astros encouraged Cole to shelve the two-seamer in favor of more four-seam fastballs and curveballs. Cole has used that strategy to produce a 2.16 ERA — the third-lowest mark in the American League — with 124 strikeouts in 82 2/3 innings this season.
Cole has spoken publicly about the change, saying his new four-seam heavy strategy has allowed him to attack hitters, rather than trying to produce weak contact. Jameson Taillon noticed a similar trend with his own arsenal. He began featuring the two-seamer shortly before making his major league debut in June 2016 and threw it 34.3 percent of the time in 2017, compared to only 29.9 percent four-seamers, per PITCHf/x data.
Although his whiff rate was higher on the two-seamer, opponents batted .337 against it. So, Taillon began using it as a secondary pitch this season, throwing his four-seamer 37.7 percent of the time, compared to 22.2 percent two-seamers.
Using that strategy, Taillon's four-seamer and two-seamer have produced an opponent's batting average of .266 and .207, respectively, and the whiff rate on his four-seamer has increased by six percent from 2017.
"I don't think the pitch itself is dying," Taillon said. "We're seeing a trend right now. I just think if it’s used the correct way, it’s a valuable pitch. The people that, myself included, relied upon it as a featured pitch, I think that’s probably dying a little bit. But as a complementary fastball and something you can mix with your four-seam, if used properly, I think it’s extremely valuable."
Kuhl has began making a similar change. Kuhl has only a 35 percent ground-ball rate, so he's opted for more four-seamers and breaking balls in recent starts, although his inability to command the four-seamer often leads him back to his sinking fastball.
Many teams, the Astros included, are teaching their pitchers to throw four-seam fastballs high in the zone, rather than two-seamers to produce weak contact. After all, hitters across the game have adjusted their swings to create more lift, which could make pitching to contact low in the zone counterproductive.
The Pirates, who lead the league in fastball usage at 65.3 percent, haven't changed their philosophy since launch angle isn't a new trend. Edgar Santana, a right-handed reliever, is throwing a two-seamer to complement his drop-off-the-table slider, and that formula has led to a 46 percent ground-ball rate. Kyle Crick, the reliever acquired from the Giants in the Andrew McCutchen trade, began throwing a two-seamer this past spring, and it's been his second-most used pitch, producing a .211 opponent batting average.
"I think, for me now, it’s more sequences and showing both," Kuhl said. "Two-seamers, in general, kind of have the effect where maybe the hitter could sit out over and be comfortable. It has to be a pitch that is going to set up and is used in certain counts."
Meanwhile, two other pitchers on the staff — Trevor Williams and Joe Musgrove — have used the pitch much like Taillon, throwing it to complement a four-seam fastball. Musgrove, acquired from the Astros in the Cole trade, has increased his two-seamer usage by seven percent from last season, and he's done so while still using his former employer's pitching philosophy.
Although Musgrove has adapted to Ray Searage's pitching style — including throwing inside and using four-seamers down in the zone — he's still followed the Astros' theory of pitch "tunneling," which has become increasingly popular around the sport. With tunneling, a pitcher focuses on delivery and release point to make each pitch look the same during the first 20 feet of flight to the plate.
"If you’re throwing to the plate, you want to have pitches that look the same," Musgrove said. "Out of my hand, I want to have the pitches looking the same and looking like it’s coming in a tunnel. The pitch is coming in the same way for those first 20 feet and when it gets past those 20 feet the hitter must decide, 'OK, that looks like a heater.' When he starts his swing, then those pitches can start to do different things. At that point he’s already committed to the swing."
Tunneling, Musgrove said, is what made a sinker an ideal weapon for his arsenal. The 25-year-old also throws a cutter, four-seam fastball, slider and changeup. A two-seamer can look the same as his two other fastballs during those first 20 feet to the plate before it breaks to the other side of the plate.
Although Musgrove has thrown a two-seamer only 15.5 percent of the time, he's utilized the pitch to get back into the count or to try to get a quick ground-ball out, including a 46 percent ground-ball rate.
"It’s a big pitch for me," Musgrove said. "If you can get pitches that look the same for a longer amount of time that have just enough movement to miss barrels at the contact point, that’s how you get deep in the game, that’s how you get quick outs."
The Pirates' production on the mound has been average, though. Their rotation ranks 10th in the National League in ERA, eighth in WHIP and 11th in strikeouts. They also rank 14th in the majors in ground-ball outs and have allowed the seventh-most home runs in the NL. The young starters are trying to fight back. Taillon and Nick Kingham added sliders to keep opponents off their fastballs. Kuhl is trying to use the two-seamer as a secondary weapon. Williams has thrown more changeups.
However, Taillon said dropping a two-seamer altogether could do more harm than good.
"There’s so many numbers out there now that say your four-seamer is your most valuable pitch, but maybe your four-seam is your most valuable pitch because you were throwing both," Taillon said. "You can’t just say, ‘Well, throw the four-seam every time.’ If you eliminate the two-seam you eliminate a pitch that moves a certain way out of their minds. Maybe they’re looking straight and up more. You have to be careful with it."
