Changeups

Koji Uehara spent part of the morning learning the grip for a circle-changeup from teammate Rich Hill and pitching coach Rick Kranitz and was able to take it out to the mound with him. Uehara, who hadn’t faced hitters in two weeks due to a left hamstring ailment, said that he felt fine and that he could envision himself using the new pitch in game settings.

Kranitz, meanwhile, said that it was irregular to see a pitcher pick up a new offering so quickly. All it took was a quick tutorial for Uehara to get comfortable with the grip.

“It was his first time ever throwing a changeup and he took to it very well,” said Kranitz. “Usually when you introduce somebody to a changeup, either they have it or they don’t have it. He felt it right away. It looked very good.

“He’s going to work on it and we’ll see. Maybe we’ll have a few surprises down the road.”