Changeups in the postseason

It was super exciting to watch postseason games. Last month, I watched a lot of baseball games. When I watched a game in a friend’s apartment, we saw a pitcher on the mound and that pitcher basically just threw changeups that day.

Now, the postseason is over. And I’m just wondering which pitchers heavily relied on his changeup in the postseason. To solve my doubt, I decided to check on the statcast website.

 

Pitch% (Changeup, Postseason, 2024, min pitches: 10)
Player	Pitch%
Tommy Kahnle	90.2%
Devin Williams	47.7%
Alek Jacob	41.7%
Cristopher Sanchez	35.2%
AJ Smith-Shawver	34.5%
Beau Brieske	32.2%
Luke Weaver	31.8%
Lucas Erceg	31.6%
Tarik Skubal	31.1%

In the postseason, Tommy Kahnle made 9 relief appearances, posting a 2.08 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP over 8.2 innings. He used his changeup more than 90% of the time. Hence, he basically just used his changeup in the playoffs. Opponents hit .185 against his changeups in the 2024 playoffs. During the regular season, Kahnle threw his changeup 73.1% of the time and opponents batted .157.

 

Moreover, Devin Williams threw 21 changeups this postseason. However, he gave up 2 hits (1 home run) and opponents’ batting average against Williams’ changeup was .667. In the regular season, Williams used his changeup 45% of the time and opponents only hit .162. Very interestingly, no hitters crushed a home run against William’s changeups during the regular season. Nonetheless, he gave up one in the playoffs.

 

In addition, Alek Jacob made 2 relief appearances this postseason and used his changeup 41.7% of the time. Opponents didn’t collect any hits against his changeups. In the regular season, Jacob used his changeup 30.6% of the time and opponents batted .150 against his changeups.

 

Furthermore, Cristopher Sanchez made a start in the postseason, giving up 2 runs in 5 innings. He threw 31 changeups in the postseason and opponents hit .333 against his changeups. In the regular season, Sanchez used his changeup 35.7% of the time. His changeups did work well because opponents only hit .177.

 

Finally, 5 other pitchers each used their changeups more than 30% of the time in the postseason. AJ Smith-Shawver, Beau Brieske and Lucas Erceg didn’t let opponents collect a hit against their changeups. Meanwhile, in the playoffs, Luke Weaver and Tarik Skubal each played an important role to help their teams. Weaver made 12 relief appearances, posting a 1.76 ERA and a 0.65 WHIP over 15.1 innings. He used his changeup 31.8% in the postseason and opponents hit .227. In the regular season, Weaver used his changeup 27.7% of the time and had a .172 BAA. Additionally, Skubal made 3 starts, posting a 2.37 ERA and a 0.79 WHIP over 19 innings in the 2024 postseason. Skubal threw his changeup 31.1% this postseason and had a .200 BAA. During the regular season, Skubal used his changeup 27.2% of the time and opponents hit .216.

 

Looking back at the 2024 postseason, several pitchers relied more on their changeups. Tommy Kahnle heavily relied on his changeup and it’s not a surprise. In the regular season, Kahnle relied on his changeup and opponents didn’t hit well against his changeup. Nonetheless, Devin Williams’ story is quite different. Williams’ changeup might be one of the most difficult pitches to hit during the regular season and no one hit a home run against his changeups. But Pete Alonso crushed a home run against his changeup and that dramatically changed the game. Luke Weaver’s changeup isn’t easy to hit, either. Only a batter hit a home run against his changeup. However, he gave up 2 home runs via his changeup this postseason. That can truly tell us how difficult to pitch in the postseason.