TAMPA — The Tampa Bay Rays have built the most changeup-dependent pitching staff in Major League Baseball, throwing the offspeed pitch at a 25% clip — more than double the league average of 11.1% — and parlaying that commitment into a staggering strikeout advantage over every other team.
The Rays lead the majors in strikeouts ending in changeups, with 120 more than the second-place Philadelphia Phillies, who have 161. The second-highest changeup usage rate in the league belongs to the San Diego Padres at 17.3%, illustrating how far Tampa Bay has veered from the norm.
“I think it just goes back to emphasizing these guys throwing their best pitches as often as possible, right? That’s no secret,” pitching coach Kyle Snyder said. “That’s been something that we’ve pushed for a long time. I think some of it’s how we’ve been rostered, what we’ve acquired, and some of it’s just the development of that pitch.”
The staff’s changeup arsenal runs deep. All-Star closer Bryan Baker features an elite version with roughly a 10-mph velocity gap from his fastball. Top setup man Kevin Kelly developed one over the offseason. Starters Nick Martinez and Shane McClanahan lean on it as their top offspeed offering, as does bulk-innings lefty Ian Seymour. All-Star starter Drew Rasmussen added a “kick-change” to his repertoire of hard stuff this season.
“If you go up and down this staff, it’s a lot of really good changeups,” starter Griffin Jax said after a recent outing in which he threw 25 changeups on 83 pitches, finishing all five of his strikeouts with the pitch and generating nine whiffs on 17 swings against it. “A lot of quality changeups in here. It’s a pitch that’s been really working.”
Martinez, channeling Snyder, noted the variety that makes the pitch so difficult to prepare for. “There’s no two changeups that are alike,” Martinez said. “You talk about velo, shapes, arm angles — and we have an array of that, right? We have obviously a really good changeup-throwing team, and not one of them is the same. They each bring something different to the table, and I think that’s what makes it very hard for hitters to prepare against.”
Manager Kevin Cash said the pitch’s effectiveness persists even when opponents know it is coming. “You’re not surprising guys at this point that you’re going to get it. There’s just not a great answer for it,” Cash said. “I think it’s because it’s very tough to read that pitch. It looks like a fastball coming in, and the bottom falls out.”
The development has been years in the making. Jax began throwing a changeup in 2022, grew comfortable with it as a reliever last season and increased his usage after moving into the rotation. McClanahan credited the organization’s coaching infrastructure. “I think [the Rays] do a really good job of understanding what makes it good and then helping you refine that and know how to use it at the right times,” McClanahan said.
Rasmussen framed the trend as part of the game’s constant evolution — from low sinkers and sliders, to high fastballs and diving breaking balls, to sweepers, and now changeups. “That’s basically what this game is: As hitters adapt, pitchers need to also be willing to change a little bit, and I think that’s what we have found to be successful this year,” Rasmussen said. “But also what it means is, here in about 18 months, we’re going to be adapting again.”