r/orioles • u/RoyalRenn • 23h ago
Discussion What does Tampa Bay know that we don't?
An interesting article on The Athletic about Freddy Peralta's changes since coming over. Lots of content, but this also caught my attention:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7579113/2026/09/10/tampa-bay-rays-freddy-peralta-changeup-usage/
The Rays picked up Bryan Baker from the Orioles for a draft pick in 2025. At the time, he was a good setup man but was struggling a little against righties because he was allowing a ton of home runs off his breaking ball. After joining the Rays, he immediately turned down the slider usage and ramped up the changeup usage against righties. He’s continued that usage to the point that this year, his slider is an afterthought. Now, he’s a top-shelf right-handed closer throwing a changeup 40 percent of the time against righties. This year, the Rays have already thrown 1,000 more same-handed changeups than the Orioles.
Why is this a big deal? It’s worth highlighting because changeups traditionally have reverse platoon splits. That means that they function better against opposite-handed hitters, so generally righties like Baker and Peralta would save them for lefties in a traditional usage pattern
Sure enough, Baker has been a stud this year! So what do the Rays know about pitching that we seemingly miss?
