Kyle Harrison’s rehab outing last week wasn’t just about knocking off rust. It was built around one specific goal: get the changeup in play, and get it in play a lot.
When Harrison took the mound for his lone rehab start in Grand Chute on July 31, he used the setting as a chance to stress a pitch that has been more idea than weapon during the season. The changeup flashed in spring training, where it drew plenty of buzz and produced strong results, but it has barely shown up since.
The numbers tell the story. Harrison’s changeup is sitting at just 10% usage, well behind his four-seamer at 58% and his slurve at 31%.
His heaviest game usage came on April 26, when he threw it 17 times for a 16.8% rate. Since then, he’s cleared 10% usage only three times.
And when he has turned to it, the payoff hasn’t matched the promise. Opponents are hitting .273 and slugging .485 against the pitch, with two homers in 33 at-bats. Harrison also hasn’t gotten more than two changeup whiffs in any game this season.
“It didn’t feel the best coming out of my hand,” Harrison said.
That’s the tricky part with a changeup, especially a kick change. It’s a pitch built on feel, and with the top of the middle finger spiked on the ball, the grip can get finicky fast.
“It’s such a wonky grip,” Harrison said. “Certain situations in game speed you come set, pitch clock’s at eight [seconds], my grip’s not fully set.
You’re worried that you gotta go, you gotta go. You lose the grip a little.
It’s been more of that than anything.”
The grip has needed work all year. During spring, Harrison developed a blister on his middle finger after putting too much pressure there and digging into the ball.
Then another blister formed near the side of his thumb when his index finger started digging in and sliding off as the ball came out. He still has to use glue on that second blister to keep it from reopening.
For Harrison, the issue now is as much mental as mechanical. Once a pitcher starts second-guessing a pitch, it’s hard to keep going back to it.
“It’s more of a confidence thing with that pitch now,” Harrison said. “When I first go to camp I’m really trying to figure out the grip, trying to figure out where to hold it, the pressure.
Now I feel like I’ve got the pressure and grip and now it’s just, ‘Throw it like a heater.’ Trust it.
Trust the arm slot and the work I’ve been doing during the week.”
That’s why the rehab start mattered. Against Class High-A Wisconsin last week, Harrison leaned into the pitch, especially against right-handed hitters. He said it was the best the changeup has felt all regular season.
“It’s about getting game reps with that pitch,” Harrison said. “That’s why it was cool for me to over-use that in a game setting. Out of the stretch, out of the windup, the game reps and arm speed, selling it like a heater.”
Now comes the real test. Harrison is set to make his first start in nearly one month on August 5 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and there should be chances to go to the changeup, especially with a run of right-handed hitters in the lineup who struggle against changeups.
Whether the feel from rehab shows up in a big-league game is the question.
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