Chris Paddack Has Gone to Extraordinary Lengths to Evolve and Adjust—and to Lead

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

"Yeah, it’s pretty simple," Chris Paddack began, as he tried to answer my question about the introduction of a true slider into his mix this summer. Those are the first four of over 1,300 words I transcribed from an interview with Paddack Sunday, in which I left out anything I said. Paddack is an eager, thoughtful, verbose ball-talker, and it's not just a way of ingratiating himself to the media. He can't help himself.

Every pitcher is really two different pitchers: the guy he is, and the guy he thinks he is. How married one is to the second affects the caliber of the first, not only because every pitcher has to make adjustments over the course of a start, a season or a career, but because being locked into a certain identity or mindset often means missing opportunities to improve. In his younger days, Paddack has probably fallen into the trap of being too confident in what he already had. This year, he's leaning hard into the idea of finding new things in his bag of tricks.

Take that slider, for instance. It wasn't a pitch he threw when the season began, but it turned out to be relatively easy to mix into his arsenal, so he's done it.

"I have the cutter grip that we kind of brought into the season, had some really good success," Paddack said, rolling a baseball in his hands to find and demonstrate the grip. "Then we noticed we tried to use it late to some guys, and it was more of just a foul ball or a show-me pitch, so then I was like, ‘Man, now that I have that cutter, I need some swing-and-miss,’ something that I can go east and west with, to lefties, righties. That’s where I’m basically just putting the fingers together"—the ball, still cradled in what had been the cutter grip, shifted slightly as he brought his first two fingers together over the seam—"and it’s same thought, same mentality, same focus at release to get that slider. But the cutter’s gonna be 88 to 90, the slider’s anywhere between 83 to 86."

Pitch-classification systems still call both pitches a slider, but if you analyze each individual pitch, you can see the differences. Here's a plot of all the so-called sliders Paddack has thrown this year, charted by horizontal and vertical movement and colored by velocity. I've highlighted six pitches from his most recent start, against the Rays, to show the two different shapes and speeds he's now utilizing even within the same outing.

Paddack has also (cautiously) introduced a sinker to his mix this year, which makes two additions to the mix this year. Doing that is highly unorthodox, but Paddack has elected to give it a shot.

"Usually that’s something you do in the offseason, but it’s something that I know that I need in my arsenal," Paddack said of those changes. "And the fact that [pitching coach Pete Maki]’s given me some good advice, talking to some players that have different grips, different focuses when they release that pitch, that’s helped me a lot. I’m excited to take that into the second half, probably not add another pitch, but just focus on the tools we have—the execution."

Lately, of course, Paddack has taken a beating. He had a 3.53 ERA over his first 13 starts, but that number has jumped to 7.99 over his last five. Some of that was bad luck, but some was giving up crooked numbers, especially via the home run. His start against the Rays on July 4 was a good step back in the right direction, though. He held Tampa Bay to two runs over five innings, striking out five (including two with that new slider) and neither walking anyone nor allowing a homer. He's had growing pains, but remains excited about where he is after these new installations.

"I have been guilty of trusting it too much, of leaning on those pitches that I’m trying to find it in-game, and I end up falling behind in counts, or end up letting up some slug on those [new] pitches," he said. "So it’s hurt me, too, but it’s also helped me. Now, it’s blending them."

As he experiments, even failure can be a good teacher—but success is the best one. Once Christian Vázquez and Ryan Jeffers see what success with the slider and the sinker look like, they can call those pitches more often or with more conviction. 

"I’m a fastball-changeup guy. I know that. Hitters know that," Paddack said, "So being able to play the cat-and-mouse game at times, throwing that pitch when I need to, trusting our catchers to call that pitch, has definitely helped me mentally. Not overthinking on the mound, have those guys call those pitches. If they’re looking at their cheat sheet and that’s the putaway pitch for our option, I’m not gonna shake. I’m gonna go with it. I think it’s definitely helped, it’s adding some different looks for lefties and righties for me this year."

One ancillary benefit Paddack talked about, with a deeper repertoire, is protecting that fastball and changeup (and even his curve, long the third pitch in his mix but never a dominant one) longer. Many pitchers—especially those who have always had their arsenal, as opposed to those (like Paddack) who add more after they've established themselves or even within a campaign—prefer to lead with and establish their strongest offerings, and mix in tertiary weapons later. Paddack flips that idea on its head a bit, trying to introduce his varied arsenal early and keep hitters from being able to sit on his fastball or changeup the second time through, having already gotten a look at them. The third time through the order is one thing, but Paddack ran into big trouble the second time through in 2024, with opponents running an .871 OPS against him. This year, that number is down to .733, which is far more manageable.

At times, because he still only has two plus offerings in that six-pitch gallimaufry, Paddack does get hit hard. He's learned, however, how to keep one bad inning from turning into two or three—and he's passionate about helping his teammates do the same thing.

"I try to teach that to some of our younger guys, too, making those in-game adjustments," he said. "A perfect example is [David Festa] in Miami. He’s a fastball-slider guy, started mixing in the changeup, got some swing-and-misses, Vazqy started calling it more. He ended up, I think he had two or three punchies through 3? He ended up going six, with seven punch. He struck out four in the last three innings, and in some big counts, some big situations. Him and Vazqy made that in-game adjustment of, ‘hey, the changeup’s working. Let’s get them off the fastball-slider. We can maybe go to that late, or go to it early to get ahead and then we can put away guys with the changeup.' And that gives him confidence for the next outing, knowing that he already got some swings and misses the start prior."

Sure enough, Festa leaned hard on the changeup again against the Cubs Wednesday night, throwing 21 of them. He got five whiffs on 13 swings and gave up no damage on that pitch. Finding some success with a pitch one doesn't yet fully trust can help a pitcher find the best version of that weapon, and thus, of themselves. Absorbing those tough innings and then chaining together zeroes to keep the team in the game is hugely valuable, and Paddack is preaching that to everyone who will listen.

"Save the bullpen, but also, I think something I’ve learned in my career is that if I let up a crooked number early in the game—say I let up a 3-spot or a 4-spot in the second inning—if I put up zeroes in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth, those four zeroes add up," he said. "Over the course of a season, that’s 12 innings of zero runs. We can’t let that snowball effect happen, because then, if you put up a 3- or 4-spot in the second, a 2-spot in the fifth, now next thing I know, I didn’t shut the door."

While most people outside the game see the forward march of analytics as a boon to pitchers, Paddack is a big believer in the power of that kind of information for hitters—which means that he (and all hurlers) have to keep innovating, to stay ahead of well-prepared and very talented batsmen.

"Just trust your gut, trust your catchers. It’s more weapons," he said. "More weapons to attack big-league hitters, who have incredible hand-eye coordination, are able to have a feel for the zone. They have all their data, they know what we’re gonna throw and when we’re gonna throw it. You have to be able to constantly mix, unless you’re like a Skubal, where you could tell guys what’s coming and they still have no chance. Not many of those. You’ve gotta continue to never settle. I’m never gonna settle. There’s always something to improve, something to gain from every outing. And for me, this year, it’s taking a couple pitches that we worked on in spring and start mixing it in on the back of my baseball card, when it counts."

Despite the uneven recent results, Paddack believes he's found some things that work. He's embracing discomfort on the mound and leadership away from it. He knows he might be a trade candidate this month, but is focusing on how he can best dominate each time he takes the mound and contribute as a mentor and vocal leader between turns in the rotation.

"I’m excited, man. It’s given me a lot of confidence. It’s actually changed the way I pitch to certain guys. Fastball-changeup had success coming up, and then got hit around a little bit, got hit in the mouth. Had some injuries that kind of put my career on hold. So it’s like, now I have a couple weapons that I can throw the kitchen sink at guys for longer at-bats. If I face them two or three times in a game, it gives me options. Kudos to our pitchers, from the bullpen all the way to our starting staff, picking their brain and giving me good positive feedback."

As tough as the season has been, for both team and player, there's hope yet. Paddack, especially, feels he's unlocked something, and that (like this team) he can achieve more in the second half after making some crucial adjustments.

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[Patzky]

Chris and Pablo are real students of their games.. their impact on young guys like Louie and Festa and Zebby can't be measured. 

[LambchoP]

Hopefully we can get a decent return for Paddack at the deadline. Hopefully a AA or AAA SP with some potential. We desperately need a catcher too. Between Paddack, Bader and Castro I think we should be able to fill some of the holes in our roster for next year. If they do the deadline right of course, which is definitely not guaranteed :(

[Rufus]

Watching Twins games it appears that Paddack is the life of a very lifeless dugout.   He will be missed when he leaves

 

[BillyBallLives]

1 hour ago, LambchoP said:

Between Paddack, Bader and Castro

If all three of these players get moved at the deadline, I won’t be surprised. Disappointed? Absolutely. A forward-thinking front office would find a way to build around these guys — not ship them off because they boxed themselves in financially.

[mickster]

1 hour ago, LambchoP said:

Hopefully we can get a decent return for Paddack at the deadline. Hopefully a AA or AAA SP with some potential. We desperately need a catcher too. Between Paddack, Bader and Castro I think we should be able to fill some of the holes in our roster for next year. If they do the deadline right of course, which is definitely not guaranteed :(

Extend Paddock

[Jack207]

Why would the Twins get rid of guys like Paddock and Castro when they 

are 3 games behind WC with Lopez, Ober, Matthews and Keuchel all on

the way back by August?

[KirbyDome89]

4 hours ago, BillyBallLives said:

If all three of these players get moved at the deadline, I won’t be surprised. Disappointed? Absolutely. A forward-thinking front office would find a way to build around these guys — not ship them off because they boxed themselves in financially.

Forward thinking is building around a utility IF, backup OF, and fringe back of the rotation guy? 

[KirbyDome89]

Not including today's clunker, his numbers were pretty much in line with what he was last year. In offseason he was somebody a lot of the fan base wanted to shed for both salary and performance reasons, now he's a "leader?" Ok. 

[Vanimal46]

4 hours ago, KirbyDome89 said:

Not including today's clunker, his numbers were pretty much in line with what he was last year. In offseason he was somebody a lot of the fan base wanted to shed for both salary and performance reasons, now he's a "leader?" Ok. 

This author is lost in the weeds of the spreadsheet. He can’t be serious.

[Doctor Wu]

Very interesting interview. Thanks for putting the time into writing it. Sure, Paddack has been inconsistent this season, and his performance the past few weeks has been very poor, but it still seems like he has the right attitude and still enough talent to turn things around. But I don't think it will be with the Twins. 

[BillyBallLives]

18 hours ago, KirbyDome89 said:

Forward thinking is building around a utility IF, backup OF, and fringe back of the rotation guy? 

I understand your take full well, and expect these guys to be moved. Yet, it takes 25+ solid players to build a championship team. I'm thinking "Al Newman" types...87-91 teams.  Also, there is a slight difference between "building" and "building around".  In other words, these are strong support players, (especially Castro,) not guys you "build" around.
I hope that helps what I'm trying to say. But...yes....Twins will most likely trade all three.

[tony&rodney]

Will Paddack be a relief pitcher for some team next season or will someone think they can help him find success as a starter? 

It is going to be very difficult to trade Paddack now. A month ago was the window.

I wonder if Paddack might be useful in the bullpen once Matthews and Ober or Lopez return to the rotation?