Brandon Pfaadt's New Cutter & Changeup. The Rays Tweaked Forrest Whitley

Brandon Pfaadt, Forrest Whitley, Adam Mazur

• DBacks Brandon Pfaadt had made some changes. I wrote about his aggressive fastball locations and struggles here, hoping for some change, and it appears we have some. He threw four cutters Tuesday, all to left-handed hitters. The pitch averaged 89.7 mph with 7” vertical break and 2-3” glove-side movement (average shape). Given his four-seamer has allowed a 15% barrel rate this season and is mostly located over the plate, the cutter makes sense. His four-seam location has been sporadic in his last 3-4 outings, but it has been located down far less than in April and May (a great sign). We’ll see how his feel for the cutter develops over time. It’s a positive addition to his lefty mix. 🐍

  • Pfaadt may also have a new changeup. The pitch averaged 1.7” vertical break with 15” arm-side movement at 87 mph. His season average vertical break was 4”. It’s the most drop his changeup has had in a game in his career (min 5 thrown). The orientation tweak (below) seems subtle, and perhaps it’s also a byproduct of his slot being down. His arm angle fell under 30° for the first time this season in his June 10th outing, and given his four-seam release was the lowest it has been this season Tuesday, we can assume that prior start wasn’t a blip. We’ll need some time for these changes to settle before we can be excited about some positive change, but I think there’s an upward trend here after a rough start to the season.

Brandon Pfaadt’s subtle changeup orientation tweak

• Rays Forrest Whitley is now a cutter machine. The once top Astros prospect was DFA’d by his drafting organization on June 8 and later traded to the Rays for cash. Whitley has now made two appearances with the Rays and has thrown 63% cutter (15/24 pitches). He threw the pitch just 9% with the Astros this season. Whitley calls the pitch a cutter, but it’s more accurate to describe it as a slider in terms of resulting movement. It averages 91 mph with 5” vertical break and 6” glove-side movement at 90-91 mph. FanGraphs grades it as a 111, a plus pitch, and better than his four-seamer. ☀️

  • Whitley said in a postgame interview that, “It’s been a comfortable pitch my whole career…I know the cutter is a pitch I can get in zone a lot easier.” Perhaps just a change-of-scenery thing will make him better, but it feels like there are some undertones of, “I wish I threw my cutter more with the Astros.”

Forrest Whitley’s “cutter” (2025)

• Marlins Adam Mazur has chopped his fastball usage. No surprise here. The Marlins made the biggest year-over-year cut in four-seam usage in the minor leagues, resembling that of the Red Sox between 2023 and 2024. Mazur used his four-seamer 42% to lefties last season. That was down to 26% in his 2025 MLB debut, as his slider and sinker have both taken more usage against southpaws. Versus righties, he’s using his new sweeper, slider, and sinker all around a quarter of the time, cutting his four-seam usage in half. 🐠

  • Mazur has been solid versus righties with the big breaking ball approach, but against lefties as a starting pitcher yesterday and at Triple-A, he struggled. He threw 22 pitches to lefties in two-strike counts yesterday and didn’t get one swing outside of the zone. Maybe so few four-seamers have hurt his chase. The slider is a good pitch (FanGraphs Stuff+ 110), but I wonder if using it so much early in the count is limiting the overall effectiveness of his mix? Marlins have become a fascinating case of the downsides that low four-seam usage can bring. They have the 5th-lowest K-BB in MLB as a staff right now and are allowing barrels at the 10th-highest rate in the league. It’s the anti-four-seam strategy turned up to 10 and I think the jury is still out as to whether it’s working.