Ty Madden is changing things up in Erie
Across the Detroit Tigers minor league system, the biggest chance that has been noticeable is pitching. Tigers fans have been seeing it across all the levels. From late-round picks like Beau Brieske to Garrett Hill, there have been contributions. For 2021 1st-round draft pick Ty Madden, the work he has put into becoming a better overall pitcher is showing results.
When he arrived in Lakeland last season, Detroit worked with Madden on several things. First thing you may have noticed since his days in Texas is his wind-up. He brings his hands up now over his head as he drives towards the plate. The video shows pitching at the University of Texas.
From a start earlier in the season against West Michigan. The purpose behind the change was to straighten out his posture and get more of a 3/4 angle.
Since he was drafted, one pitch that has been a work in progress is his changeup. In an article written by Emily Waldon last September, he spoke about the work that began when he arrived in Lakeland.
“I altered my changeup grip a little bit and I’ve started to see pretty good success with it,” Madden said. “We’ve made a couple changes that have really helped with my arm speed and selling the pitch.” –Ty Madden Has A To-Do List To Attack In Pro Ball
In last night’s start, he set a career-high in strikeouts with 10. Afterwards, Chris Brown asked Madden if he was throwing his changeup more and Madden mentioned he was throwing at a higher clip than at West Michigan.
Ty Madden on his increased usage of his change-up compared to High-A. pic.twitter.com/OQmEuUYmCr
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 3, 2022
The results are pretty clear early on. He had a 10.4% swinging strike rate at West Michigan. Since he arrived at Erie, that number has jumped to 16% in 27 innings of work. Something else to note. His fly ball rate with the Whitecaps was at 46% but since the move up, it has dropped to 31%. Again, all in a small sample size, but perhaps with the changeup, that could lead to more ground balls since the pitch has downward movement.
Check out his start from last night against Bowie and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
TYLER’S RISE TO THIS LEVEL IS NO ACCDIDENT. HIS DAD AND MOM HAS MADE SPECIAL PROVISIONS TO HAVE HIM WORK WITH THE BEST COACHES IN THE AREA. HE BLOOMED IN HIGH SCHOOL AT A RATE THAT WOULD SURPRISE SOME FOLKS, BUT THE FAMILY AND FRIENDS IN THE CIRCLE KNEW TYLER HAD ABILITIES THAT WOULD TAKE HIM AS FAR AS HE WANTED TO GO. HIS DETERMINATION, DESIRE AND FOCUS HAS BEEN THE THREE PINACLES OF HIS LIFE.