The evolution of Shaun Anderson’s kick-changeup

TEMPE, Ariz. — Much like how the sweeper took over baseball last year, the kick-changeup has been baseball’s new phenomenon this spring training with more pitchers testing out the trendy pitch. Shaun Anderson, however, has been throwing the kick-changeup since 2019 but he’s now got the pitch to where he wants it. 

It all started because Anderson wanted more drop from his changeups since his were coming out more flat. Anderson tends to put a lot more spin on the ball because he’s what’s called a “supinator,” which is the technical way to say he typically throws with his hand on the outside of the ball instead of on top.

To fix this issue, Anderson moved his middle finger to the top of the ball and only kept the fingertip on the ball, that way he could use his ring finger to kick the ball off its normal spin axis. Anderson said that instead of a traditional change-up spinning three o'clock sideways, it's now spinning like a topspin and he’s got to think about using his ring finger to spin it upward.

Anderson had a pitch with more movement, but it wasn’t consistent enough.

“For me, it was really hard to control in-zone and I needed something going away from lefties in-zone,” Anderson said. “It would either be really good or it'd be a little bit non-competitive.”

Anderson continued to try to find answers and decided to visit Tread Athletics in 2022, where they tinkered with the pitch for some time. After messing around with pitch grips, Anderson has found a grip that gives him the consistency he wants.

The difference in the pitch is that Anderson grips the ball similar to a splitter, with his index finger and middle finger holding a split grip on the ball, but he also keeps his ring finger right next to his middle finger. By keeping the ring finger next to his middle finger on the ball, Anderson can use his middle finger to kick the ball. 

“Instead of keeping my middle finger on top and spiking it, I turn it over to the side and I almost spike the right side of the seam,” Anderson said. “It's just really about kicking the axis upside down rather than getting really on top of it. So, just being able to kick it with your middle finger is really the purpose of the kick-change.”

The new hybrid splitter/kick-changeup has helped Anderson so far this spring. He’s given up two earned runs in six innings of work with seven strikeouts and a walk this spring. Anderson has yet to find the success to stick in the majors as he possesses a career 6.10 ERA in 152 innings in the big leagues, which is why he’s leaning on the veterans on the Angels pitching staff to learn. 

“I have a bunch of pitches and I love the shapes on them, but having the guys here that we have, it's really been kind of eye-opening having (Kyle) Hendricks here and Kenley Jansen and Tyler Anderson,” Anderson said. “These guys all pitch with their stuff, so I’m picking their brains about it and really just simplifying and finding my zones to throw my pitches instead of overcomplicating it.”

Anderson has been having multiple conversations with those veterans throughout spring, but there’s one conversation with Hendricks that has stood out. Since Anderson throws across his body, he struggles with getting his fastballs to go to the outside corner and Hendricks has been talking it through with him.

“I always try to create the movement on it and he was talking about staying on it and not trying to see the movement happen,” Anderson said. “Just throwing it to that lane and staying in that lane instead of trying to go around the lane as if it was a two-seam and stay through it. That's really helped me stay in my delivery a little bit longer and get a little bit more out in front and just control the count. That's really been the biggest thing is controlling count leverage.”

With a redefined kick-changeup and the support of veteran pitchers, Anderson has put himself in a position to fight for a roster spot with the Angels bullpen.