Over five seasons as ace of the Pittsburgh Pirates http://www.cowboyscheapauthenticstore.com/trysten-hill-jersey-cheap , Gerrit Cole threw one of the game’s hardest, heaviest fastballs, and he threw it often. The pitch helped him make millions of dollars. It put him in contention for major awards. Hitters swung through it again and again, and Cole seemed content not to mess with a good thing.

But when Cole was traded to the Houston Astros this offseason, a funny thing happened. He became more frugal with his fastball and ended up more overpowering than ever.

Cole has joined some of the game’s best pitchers – including Cleveland’s Corey Kluber and the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw – in benefiting from a puzzling baseball paradox: In an era when pitchers are throwing harder than ever, they’re maximizing success by using fewer fastballs.

Pitchers – even ones with blazing fastballs like Luis Severino and Chris Archer – are using more offspeed than ever recorded, and while many aces think the downturn is a trend, some believe baseball could be entering a new age dominated not by 100 mph heaters, but by a steady stream of breaking balls and changeups.

So why is the hardest-throwing generation of pitchers ever going the way of the junk-baller?

Depends who you ask, but one culprit stands out to Cole, Kluber and Kershaw: baseball’s swing-changing batters.

”You can call it launch angle, or you can call it the upper cuts,” Cole said. ”There are a lot of swings that are dictating breaking balls.”

Cole’s move away from a fastball-first approach is striking given the reputation of his hardest pitch. He topped out at 99 mph as an ace at UCLA, and his fastball was the headliner on a resume that earned him an $8 million signing bonus as the first overall draft pick in 2011 by Pittsburgh. Under the guidance of Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage, Cole pounded the bottom of the strike zone with that heater Drew Lock Jersey , and for years, it worked. He was an All-Star and finished fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting in 2015, and was considered among the game’s most overpowering starting pitchers.

Then baseball’s flyball revolution took flight – a movement of hitters using upper-cut swings designed to crush exactly the kinds of sinking fastballs Cole was delivering. After never allowing more than 11 home runs in a season, Cole was tagged for 31 last year.

So it was time to change things up.

From 2013-17, Cole threw his fastball 65 percent of the time – well above the league average. But this year, he’s cut that fastball rate by about 10 points, replacing those heaters with sliders and curveballs. The new look is working. Cole is 8-1 with a 2.59 ERA through 15 starts and leads the American League with 138 strikeouts.

”I think you’re just continually trying to mess timing up, especially when guys are trying to slug,” Cole said. ”When they’re trying to hit it out of the park every time, you have an easier time changing speeds.”

Kluber and Kershaw have made similar adjustments in the past couple years. Both Cy Young winners rank among the league leaders in fewest fastballs thrown this season.

”Guys are geared up to swing for a fastball,” Kluber said. ”I guess it’s almost rare now to see somebody actually, like, go the other way with the breaking ball.”

Kluber has set a career low with a fastball rate of 41.8 percent this season. Same for Kershaw, who has dropped from a 72-percent fastball clip in 2010 all the way to 42.8 percent in an injury-hampered 2018.

”The hitters tell you what you need to do,” Kershaw said. ”And for me http://www.broncoscheapauthenticstore.c … rsey-cheap , I guess it’s been throwing a lot more breaking balls.”

Cole, Kluber and Kershaw suspect the tide will turn back, perhaps soon, once hitters recalibrate to the number of four-seam fastballs pitchers are throwing up in the strike zone.

But Trevor Bauer, Kluber’s analytically-minded teammate in Cleveland, thinks the offspeed uptick is only going to spread.

Two years ago, Bauer and Indians closer Cody Allen watched as 6-foot-8 Yankees fireballer Dellin Betances carved up Cleveland’s hitters with a fastball that averaged 98 mph. Allen – no slouch himself with a fastball around 94 mph – told Bauer that if he could throw hard like Betances, he wouldn’t even bother with a breaking ball.

”No,” Bauer recalled telling Allen. ”He should never throw a fastball.”

Bauer’s theory is that the threat of a 100 mph fastball might be more dangerous to hitters than the fastballs themselves.

”As guys throw harder, guys have less and less time to hit that offering,” Bauer said. ”So they have to speed up in order to catch up to it, which, that makes the breaking ball more effective.”

Hitters are left picking between two nasty poisons – risk being behind on triple-digit fastballs, or jeopardize taking ugly swings on breaking pitches as they dart out of the strike zone.

Veteran slugger Todd Frazier was with the Yankees last year when New York’s hard-throwing bullpen led by Betances, Aroldis Chapman and Chad Green overpowered hitters while also posting the lowest fastball rate in the majors.

”I have to set my feet for 98 mph http://www.eaglescheapauthenticstore.co … rsey-cheap , and understand I might get 84-88 mph slider,” said Frazier, now with the New York Mets. ”It makes it tougher on you.”

And yet, Frazier and his fellow hitters aren’t close to jumping off their fastball-first approach.

”The baseline of hitting is the fastball,” Mets teammate Jay Bruce said. ”You have to stay on the fastball. For me personally, that’s what my timing of th ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Over the last few days, versatile Denver Broncos defensive back Kareem Jackson has lined up at safety and in the slot position.Not much work at cornerback, though.That could change depending on the team’s contract talks with star cornerback Chris Harris Jr., who’s skipping the organized team activities this week as he seeks a new deal.Indirectly, Jackson’s contract with Denver puts him in the middle of the Harris saga. Broncos boss John Elway signed Jackson (three years, $33 million) and fellow DB Bryce Callahan (three years, $21 million) to big deals in the offseason. Harris is slated to make $7.8 million this season.“I’m in the middle of it?” Jackson good-naturedly asked Thursday. “I don’t think I’m in the middle. Obviously, we definitely want Chris to be here. He’s a big-time player in this league. He’ll definitely help us on the defensive side. At the end of the day, it’s a business. He wants to get paid Zach Brown Jersey , to have some type of stability so he can take care of himself and his family. “Harris, a perennial Pro Bowl selection who turns 30 in June, is entering the final season of a team-friendly, five-year, $42.5 million contract he signed in 2015. He’s the last remaining member of the team’s notorious “No Fly Zone” secondary.“If he’ll be here, we’ll definitely love for him to be here,” Jackson said. “At the end of the day, we understand it’s a business. Sometimes things happen that we all may not want to happen.“As for the rest of the guys, we have to work accordingly.”For Jackson, that’s absorbing multiple positions in a hurry. The task is nothing new for him as he played some cornerback and safety for the Houston Texans a season ago when he had two interceptions and 87 tackles.Technically listed as a cornerback for Denver, he’s spent most of his time this spring working with the safeties. He’s also seen some reps at the slot position.“At some point, I’m sure I’ll get some reps at corner also,” said the 31-year-old Jackson, who was a first-round pick by Houston in 2010. “I’m trying to prepare for all three spots.”His preference would be to play safety, because “I get a chance to see everything that’s going on and just kind of run and hit people.”Still Devin Bush Jersey , he counts his true value as being able to line up wherever he is needed.“That’s one of my strengths, playing multiple positions,” Jackson said. “I feel like that can help us as a defense on Sundays.”There’s plenty to digest in head coach Vic Fangio’s system and under the watchful eyes of defensive coordinator Ed Donatell. Jackson equated it to being back at Alabama during his college days, when head coach Nick Saban and then-Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Kirby Smart would frequent the meeting room.For advice, Jackson is leaning on Callahan, who played in Fangio’s system when both were in Chicago.“With him being in the system for quite some time, he’s able to help all the guys,” Jackson said of Callahan. “I know a couple times throughout the day when I’ve been playing slot and he’s playing corner, I can look right to him and ask, ‘Hey, what do I have right here?’ He’s been very helpful.”NOTES: Jackson attended his share of Denver Nuggets games during their playoff run. “I’m a huge NBA fan. I try to catch a couple games throughout the year,” Jackson said. … Asked about the change in rookie QB Drew Lock from their time together at Missouri, Broncos guard/center Connor McGovern responded: “That’s a totally different player.”