Beyond his deep repertoire of pitches and the ability to command them, the Diamondbacks' Zac Gallen has an understanding of how to use his arsenal.
Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen threw cutters and curveballs to get to two strikes on Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber in the third inning on Tuesday night, then nodded in agreement with his catcher on the full-count pitch.
In a sense, Gallen has been preparing to do this nearly his entire life. He said video exists of him playing right field at age 5, and while other kids might have been picking flowers in the grass, Gallen was practicing his pitching motion. But in reality he did not truly embrace pitching until he reached college, at which point he embarked on a sort of razor’s edge journey to learn all he could about the craft.
“I would read their swings as I was flipping them balls and think, ‘Where is the hole in this kid’s swing? On, like, a 6-year-old,” Gallen said. “As funny as it is, it kind of still played to college baseball when I was there. When you get to the big leagues, the holes are a little harder to find, but they’re still there.”
“‘Slow bat, wants the ball away, looks bad on change-ups and sliders down,’” Gallen said, sharing the report with the understanding the hitters' names would not be published. “‘Do not do favors with early off speed.’ You know, he’s got the honey hole down and in, but he still to this day kind of gets fooled on fastballs and change-ups. So that still plays.”
The following year, Gallen sought out that pitching coach, Bruce Walton, during spring training in Florida. He wondered what other tidbits Walton might have for him. The ensuing conversations turned out to be more meaningful than Gallen could have imagined. From Walton, Gallen began to formulate a sort of all-encompassing plan of attack. He learned how one pitch can lead to the next and the next. He learned how his particular pitches can best be sequenced in order to keep a hitter off balance.
“I felt at the time like he probably was sitting on a change-up,” Gallen said. “His swing looked like he was sitting on a change-up. He kind of looked like he was on his front foot, trying to go get pitches. I bet I probably throw more 3-2 change-ups than maybe in any other count. I’m wondering if he was guessing that it would be a 3-2 change-up.”
Said infielder Josh Rojas: “You can have a report, but when you’re dealing with big-league hitters, they can have a different plan or can come up with a new idea. He’s been doing a really good job of seeing that stuff in game, recognizing it and attacking holes.”On Friday, Gallen was named the National League Pitcher of the Month. He allowed three runs in his first start of August, then turned in five consecutive scoreless outings.
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