Trent Blank plays an integral role in one of baseball’s top pitching organizations. Now in his sixth season on the major league coaching staff, Blank is the director of pitching strategy for the Seattle Mariners. He’s well-suited for the job. The 35-year-old former minor league hurler holds an MS in Kinesiology and Exercise from Dallas Baptist University, and he previously worked at TMI Sports Medicine as a baseball performance specialist. Along with his current position, Blank has served as Seattle’s bullpen coach.
Blank sat down to talk about the Mariners’ pitching process prior to the start of the regular season.
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David Laurila: Let’s start with a pitcher the Mariners [purchased from the Cincinnati Reds] shortly before spring training. What made Casey Legumina an attractive acquisition?
Trent Blank: “Whenever we sign anybody, we look at them through a lot of different lenses, and he popped for both our player development and analytics groups. From my perspective, we really liked some of the unique things that he does with the baseball. He has good uphill plane since he kind of changed his delivery. With his spin profile, we think we can add a couple of pitches. We’re also thinking about bringing a couple of pitches back, and repurposing them. He has a lot of raw materials we feel we can put together in a different way.”
Laurila: Can you elaborate on that?
Blank: “When we add stuff, it’s generally based on a certain spin profile we see. Then, when we talk about repurposing… with Casey in particular, it’s the sweeper. He’s had different versions of it, because he’s had different slots. We like the pitch. Adding some aggression is one thing. We’re still working through it, but the main thing is getting his fastball going at the top rail a little bit more.”
Laurila: Generally speaking, how does the organization approach introducing changes to a pitcher’s arsenal?
Blank: “There are two things. We try to find things that they do a little bit and have them do it more, or we find a strategy and just tweak it a little bit. The way we talk about is, we just turn dials. Some of them are really simple. Some are more complex. But whenever it gets to the player it’s laid out in a way that isn’t overwhelming.”
Laurila: Can you give an example of something simple?
Blank: “What you’ve probably seen the most, publicly, is that we’re taking guys with four-seam profiles, with a little bit of cut, and adding a two-seam. They’re not really changing how they throw the baseball; they’re just holding the baseball a little differently. Based on our information, we have a good idea that it’s going to apply that type of movement, and that movement is going to be impactful.”
Laurila: How do you determine which pitchers — which types of arm action — are best-suited for that?
Blank: “It’s partly arm slot and release, and then the other part is the spin-profile information we’re getting from Hawkeye. Some people might say it’s a lower-slot guy, but you also have guys like Bryce Miller. He’s not truly that high, but he is higher… and he can sink it. Same thing with Logan Gilbert. We’ve found ways to add more sink to his two-seam. So yeah, the whole spectrum.”
Laurila: Is there a profile where it tends not to work?
Blank: “It’s usually the spin profile that prevents it. There are ways to work around that, but it’s not as simple when there is a spin profile that’s not lining up.”
Laurila: Can you train spin?
Blank: “You can, but that’s getting a little bit more invasive. We’ve generally tried to find the smallest change that has the biggest change in plus impact. Whenever we’re identifying players from different orgs — or identifying players within our own org — to make a change, we consider the ease of change, and the impact.”
Laurila: To the extent that it’s answerable, what is the best spin profile?
Blank: “It’s hard to say ‘best’ spin profile, although I do think the industry has been attracted to guys who have some slight cut, because of what it allows you to do. With the guys who are more clean through the baseball it’s a little more difficult to get variance off of that.”
Laurila: Cut-ride is a term I’ve been hearing a lot…
Blank: “Yeah. A lot of guys, including some in our org, have kind of taken off with it. Penn Murfee was a guy who had cut-ride. Collin Snider is a guy who was throwing a sinker that was driven by cut-ride, and we gave him the four back, giving him a unique profile. So, I think that’s kind of what people are looking for. It’s a fun look, although there aren’t a ton of guys out there, especially from a lower slot, who do it.”
Laurila: A sinker driven by cut-ride seems counterintuitive…
Blank: “A lot of pitches that are driven by seam-effect… the guys who can do it more easily are the ones who have a slight cut profile to their fastballs. It’s not going to be the guys who are clean, like Logan Gilbert; it’s going to be more guys like Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo, and George Kirby to some extent. What we’ve learned is, that profile, with a slightly different grip, can get more sink than the guys that just pronate, or turn it over.”
Laurila: Is there a gyro effect at play?
Blank: “It’s adding a couple degrees of gyro, but if you’re completely backspinning the ball at 12 o’clock… like, it would be the guys that are still at 12 o’clock but have their hands slightly turned. That little turn of the hand allows us to use the seams a little bit differently and create sink.”
Laurila: For some pitchers that would presumably be easier said than done…
Blank: “So, if you’re trying to take a guy who is pure backspin and get him to sink the ball by having him change… so, his hand orientation is going to be different on the baseball. You’re adding pressure here, or widening the fingers out, or changing the thumb position, in order to create a different spin profile that allows for more sink. That’s more drastic.
“A lot of the changes we’re making are really just how they’re holding the ball, as opposed to changing their hand positioning. When you change how they’re holding the ball, it’s just going from a four-seam to a two-seam, or a two-seam to a one-seam. That’s what’s sweeping across baseball right now. A lot of teams are on this. It’s effective, because it’s something you can do in a day.”
Laurila: How would changing finger pressure be “more drastic?”
Blank: “I’m sure you’ve heard that people will add a little index-finger pressure, or middle-finger pressure, in order to make the ball do something different. A lot of times it’s sinkers. You just add a little index-finger pressure and make it turn right; that’s with a righty. But again, I think those are more invasive. You’re changing the mechanics of how the pitch is coming out of your hand. I’d rather keep the mechanics the same and just find a way to hold the baseball a bit differently from a seam-orientation standpoint.”
Laurila: Changing direction a bit, who on the Mariners staff most stands out in terms of a unique pitch profile?
Blank: “That’s a tough question. What’s unique is becoming more normal now. But I guess the obvious answer would be that there is something about Bryan Woo’s fastball that is perplexing for hitters. And truthfully, while we know it’s good, we’re still surprised at just how good it is by the results. There’s something different to where our catchers say it, and hitters from other teams say it. Something about that pitch makes it unique.”
Laurila: Did you play a role in his being drafted by the Mariners?
Blank: “A small role. Our draft process involves a lot of people. I would give more credit to Joel Firman than to anyone else. Really, him, Scott Hunter, and our entire scouting group. They do a good job of pulling in our [player development] group as well. And then we provide a small look at how the delivery works, and some of the development opportunities that are available. The combination of all those things, and all those people, brought that guy into our org.”
Laurila: You obviously liked what you saw in Woo…
Blank: “Yeah. He stood out. The ease of operation, plus the attributes that come along with it, is unique. You don’t see a lot of guys who can move like that — be really strong and mobile at the same time — and have uphill plane. It was a pretty perfect combination, a perfect storm, of what we really like.”
Laurila: If you were to list the traits you most like in a pitcher, how high would “unique” rank?
Blank: “A guy doesn’t have to be unique. There are guys who do some simple things really well, which is even harder to do at times. So, I don’t think we gravitate toward certain guys. I do think we’re at a point where we can look at an individual and find ways to optimize him. It’s more just, ‘How aggressive do we want to be, and on what timeline?’ I do like unique — especially when it comes to our relievers; that helps provide different looks, different ways to match up — but I’ve also grown to love the extraordinary guys who can do simple things over and over again.”
Laurila: Any final thoughts on developing pitchers, and/or the pitches they throw?
Blank: “I’d say that the avenues people take for developing players sometimes get isolated into one thing. We try to have… like, there are some guys who are really good at pitch design, while some are good with strategy and others are good at developing velo. I feel that our group has done a really good job of finding different ways to enhance practice, to enhance bullpens. There is a niche of people I think would really enjoy the conversation around that: what bullpens look like, and why they’re going about them that way. That’s ultimately what leads to the execution you see on the field, and to guys reaching this potential, or that potential.”
Laurila: Can you elaborate on bullpens and practice?
Blank: “They vary for individuals, but how well you use feedback, which is generally coming from TrackMan or Rapsodo. There is also how coaches are talking to players in bullpens; how much they’re talking to them, and what they’re talking to them about. There is also just watching guys’ throwing programs and what they’re driving. Are they trying to adjust mechanics constantly? Are they trying to almost challenge mechanics, just to see what comes out of it?
“There are two trains of thought on how to approach those things. You can have both worlds, but some people shift either this way or that way, while there is probably a perfect median. It’s kind of an art. It’s not pure science. There is a lot of theory behind it, which I think is a fun conversation to have.”
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