Jeff Francis’ Changeup Fails Him in San Diego

The basic premise of a changeup is to change speeds on a hitter making him believe that a fastball is coming, but also to change a hitter’s eye level as well. A great changeup usually is thrown 7-to-10 mph slower than a pitcher’s average fastball and dips down in the zone.

When a pitcher’s changeup is ineffective is when there isn’t much variance in speeds between his fastball and changeup and when it is left up in the zone. That is exactly what happened to Colorado Rockies’ pitcher Jeff Francis yesterday against the San Diego Padres.

Francis was rocked for eight runs on seven hits in three innings of work. He also walked three and struck out nobody in his 80 pitch effort. So what was Francis’ downfall on Wednesday? His rat...

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