When it comes to closers teams don't put in to much time trying to fix a problem. They will usually move them to middle relief and let them try to figure it out there. The first thing I notice about Matt Capps this year is an uptick in his use of the changeup. Last year was the most he had ever used it at 6.6%, but this year he is up to 13.6%. Looking at BrooksBaseball Pitch F/x for last night he never once got a strike with his changeup, so why the increase of use?
Looking at last year when Capps was at 6.6% changeups he was getting the least amount of strikes called or swinging out of his three pitches with the changeup. He did induce a large number of foul balls though with it. The problem is he is a control pitcher and his slider and changeup both result in a ball over 40% of the time. His fastball on the other hand only results in a ball 30% of the time.
I don't think there are other problems as all his speeds look good and his numbers don't show any injury. The problem is he went from a career 1.48 BB/9 rate to a 4.32 in the extremely small sample size of 8.1 IP.
Closers are often put under the biggest spotlight, but dealing with such small sample sizes can lead to extreme results for good or bad. Look for a decrease in the changeup rate over the next few outings to see better results from Capps.
