We know, as baseball fans, that players are constantly tinkering and changing.
In MLB's hypercompetitive environment, where every flaw is ruthlessly exploited by the opposition, the only thing a player can do is constantly work to get better.
Usually, that means little things like mechanical tweaks or slight changes to approach.
It's not surprising that the changes are mostly small: by the time a player has reached the major leagues, he's among the 400 best in the world at some combination of baseball skills.
Each one has spent years honing these skills to a fine point, so it would make very little sense to stray too far from what has made him successful.
That's why Jake Odorizzi's case is so interesting.
Over the last three years, those who have been watching have seen him transform from a back-end starter to a dominant pitcher.
This transformation is not the accumulation of minor changes: rather, it's the result of a complete overhaul of his pitching arsenal.
Odorizzi was drafted 32nd overall by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008, then traded to the Royals after the 2010 season in the Zack Greinke deal.
He was called up in September 2012, then traded again to the Rays as part of the James Shields deal.
When he appeared in 2012 and 2013, he was an intriguing but not amazing prospect, mixing a 90 mph fastball with an 82 mph slider, an 84 mph changeup, and a 72 mph curveball.
In terms of movement, this is what he attacked batters with:
That arsenal got him through 29.2 innings of 6.67 K/9 and 2.43 BB/9 in 2013, solid enough but not particularly notable.
The big problem was that his changeup just wasn't very good, which led to struggles against left-handed hitters.
While he held righties to a .273 wOBA in 2013, lefties lit him up to the tune of .369.
Clearly, a change was needed. Odorizzi reached out to Alex Cobb, a fellow Rays starter who had had similar struggles with left-handers before conquering them with a new pitch.
Cobb showed Odorizzi that pitch, which he called "The Thing," and the results were immediate.
Largely thanks to "Thing 2" (his version of Cobb's pitch), Odorizzi in 2014 was actually better against left-handed hitters than righties, with wOBAs of .294 and .324, respectively.
He also turned into a strikeout machine, punching out 9.32 batters per 9. This movement chart shows his updated 2014 arsenal.
The key difference, of course, is the appearance of the pink split-finger, which was not present in 2013.
There's also a forlorn group of artifact changeups are clinging desperately to life on the edge of the arriving wave.
Lastly, the slider and fastball are tightening closer to each other. It's almost as if they're turning into something else…
They are! In 2015, the slider is gone, replaced by a new cut fastball that doesn't really drop, but moves differently and is a little faster (86 mph instead of 82 for the slider).
The changeups are gone entirely, replaced by the splitter. The curveball is rarely used, more a show-me pitch than anything else.
It might be next on the chopping block: he threw it just once in his most recent start on June 5, after not throwing it in his previous start.
In 2014, Odorizzi's big step forward was developing the splitter and getting strikeouts.
This year, he's made another advance: his BB/9, which sat at 3.16 in 2014, is now down to a minuscule 1.76.
While his strikeouts have dropped, his ground ball rate has jumped from 29.9% all the way to 40.7%.
Consequently, he's been able to go much deeper into games: where last season he had 17 games in which he pitched fewer than 6 innings, this season he's only had one similar start.
Unfortunately, that was the game in which he suffered an oblique injury which currently has him sidelined.
The division-leading Rays are hoping for a quick recovery--especially with injuries to Drew Smyly and Alex Cobb, a lot of weight has been resting on Odorizzi's shoulders to keep the team winning.
Based on his performance thus far, and his demonstrated ability to adjust, Odorizzi should be able to keep helping his team win for years to come.
NOTE: All statistics accurate as of 06/25/15
By Sam Whitefield
AriBall.com
