Roch Kubatko dives into Matt Harvey‘s work with Baseball Performance Center, work that led to a $1 million contract with the Orioles. The owner talks about the state of Harvey’s four-seam fastball coming into the training:

“The two biggest things were, one, getting his fastball to have the carry that it used to have when he was dominant, and over the last couple years when he bounced around from team to team, his fastball had lost that carry and it had more run to it, like a two-seamer. And over that period of time, he never even threw a two-seam fastball. He was throwing four-seamers that were getting tagged as two-seamers because they had the movement profile. So pretty much getting him to get that spin back on the ball that allowed him to carry it through the zone and get a lot of swing and misses.

“And then the second thing was just mechanics, getting him back to moving better like he used to. He can do it, it’s just, nobody had really told him that before.”

MASNSports.com

What emerged was not only better carry on his four-seam fastball, but a new two-seam power sinker:

“For him to get that ride he needs to throw with a little bit of cut-spin, which is kind of crazy, but he started to get that back. And at the same time also figured out that he could throw a power sinker. When he throws a two-seam he can make it move horizontally 19 inches, which is insane. That’s a legitimate power sinker. And the velocity was the same as the four-seamer. So he figured out he could throw a different pitch that he never even threw before, with a plus-movement profile.”

The article also notes the Orioles (given their Astros pedigree) are very good improving pitchers with technology and analytics, so Harvey may be in the right spot for a comeback.