Matt Gage had been hitting his head against the wall for five seasons after being drafted, trying to incorporate the teachings of old school developers into his game. Then Matt Buschmann came along with advice that was a little different. (ArdenZwelling)
Of course, the Blue Jays aren’t going to share all the characteristics that led their model to identify Gage. But the uptick in his stuff certainly helped. As did the way his four-seamer played up in the zone. The left-handed relievers the Blue Jays already had on hand at or near the major-league level — Tim Mayza, Ryan Borucki, Kirby Snead, Tayler Saucedo — were all somewhat similar, using sinkers down in the zone to set up sweeping sliders.
Now he has a tighter, harder cutter to throw in-zone for strikes, and a bigger, slower slider to use off the plate for swing-and-miss. Those secondary weapons work in concert with his four-seamer, which features plenty of natural ride, helping carry it in the opposite direction. The more separation he has between his pitches, the more likely he’ll miss bats — or at least their barrels.
The Blue Jays also asked Gage to stop targeting the corners of the plate and instead aim each of his pitches at the catcher’s mask, letting their natural action carry them to the edges of the zone. Five years ago, Gage couldn’t have explained the purpose of that approach to you. He didn’t know about the diagonal line. He couldn’t have told you about his goal to throw his slider with 12 inches of horizontal movement, and how his spring-training adjustment to a two-seam grip would help him do that.
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