After watching Drew Thorpe toss six scoreless innings against his lineup, Royals manager Matt Quatro found out the hard way just how good the White Sox No. 3 ranked prospect is.
“We didn’t get to him at all. He was excellent. Guys were saying they had not seen a changeup like that,” Quatro said after Thrope’s July 21st start in Kansas City. “The cutter and changeup, we didn’t seem to have an answer for.”
The Royals are not the only team who haven’t had an answer for Thorpe’s changeup. It’s a pitch that has not only emerged as the best in his arsenal, it’s also quietly becoming one of the most effective pitches in baseball.
Thorpe uses his changeup 35% of the time, the most of any pitch in his arsenal. It comes in at an average of 82 mph, which offers a drastic change of speed from his 91 mph fastball. His changeup has accounted for 28% of his strikeouts whole producing a nearly 40% whiff rate. Opponents are also hitting just .154 off of it.
“He learned his changeup plays three times in a row to certain guys,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol told reporters on Monday. “Normally that doesn’t happen because you don’t throw the same pitch three times in a row.”
As a result, the 23-year-old right-hander has posted a 3.03 ERA in his first seven starts in the big leagues. In Thorpe’s last five starts, he has tossed 30 1/3 innings, allowing just 13 hits, five earned runs, 10 walks, and 20 strikeouts. Opponents have also managed just a 4.4% Barrel percentage, which would rank among the best in the MLB among qualified pitchers.
Despite being a relatively soft throwing righty, scouts have considered his changeup to be one of the best in the minor leagues. It received a 70-grade label from scouts on a 20-80 scale and helped him produce a 1.35 ERA during his 11 starts in Double-A Birmingham this year.
But what makes Thorpe’s changeup so effective? As stat guru Thomas Nestico, pointed out during a deep dive into this pitch, one of the biggest reasons why is his arm slot. His delivery involves a short arm stroke that looks very similar to how he throws his fastball. As a result, hitters are often left guessing and by the time they realize it is a changeup, it is too late.
Another factor is that it has more movement than a traditional changeup. His changeup has 19 inches of movement. It also has more horizontal and vertical break, making it one of the most unique changeups in the MLB.
Time will tell how hitters adjust once they begin to gather more tape on it. But Thorpe’s changeup is quickly proving to be a force to reckon with at the MLB level.
