How a sinker became the new popular pitch for the Twins staff

When launch angle became a normal part of the baseball lexicon, major league pitchers started throwing more four-seam fastballs at the top of the strike zone, and sinkers seemingly fell out of style.

Like most fashion items, it just took a little time before sinkers were back in vogue. Zebby Matthews started throwing a sinker — a two-seam fastball — about a month ago. David Festa, who is out for the season with a shoulder injury, added one last winter. Joe Ryan started throwing his more often. Chris Paddack, before he was traded, put it into his pitch mix.

There are a few reasons why pitchers are throwing more sinkers again. Hitters became better at hitting elevated four-seam fastballs. Throwing multiple fastballs, whether it’s adding a sinker or a cutter, is a nice complement to a straighter four-seam fastball.

Another perk is it doesn’t require a ton of prep work before a pitcher feels comfortable throwing it a few times in a game.

“It’s another look, even if it’s not a nasty sinker,” Twins pitching coach Pete Maki said. “That’s not the goal for the pitch to be awesome in a vacuum. The goal is for it to be different than the four [seamer] and get off the barrel. Zebby is in that same category as Chris was. If he was just a sinker guy only, I don’t know if it’s as useful, but when it’s mixed in with a bunch of fours, it’s tough to hit and tough to square up.”

Matthews, who already threw a four-seam fastball and a cutter, needed only a few days to learn his sinker before he knew he wanted to add it to his pitch mix. It was another way to combat righthanded hitters.

“It wasn’t a ton of coaching involved there,” Maki said. “We were out in L.A., and someone threw a sinker in a bullpen, and he went, ‘You’re next.’ It was kind of in jest, but I was planting the seed and then maybe a week later he threw it in catch play, and he looked really good. He threw one in the ‘pen, and the first one he threw took off to the right, so it wasn’t too much labor involved.”

This year, it’s the sinker.

“It’s come back and for good reason,” Maki said. “It’s something that moves into righthanders, right? If someone wants to get too comfortable looking out over the plate for sliders, it’s very helpful to have something running in at 96, 97 mph.”

The Twins used rookie righthander Travis Adams as a long reliever throughout the season, and he was one of the guys who piloted their new program where a pitcher throws multiple innings every four days.

For the final month of the season, the 25-year-old Adams will be tested in shorter relief stints. He threw one clean inning against the Chicago White Sox on Monday, and he didn’t record more than four outs in any of his outings during his last stint in the minor leagues.

As the Twins consider ways to rebuild their bullpen for the 2026 season, Adams will receive an early evaluation about how his pitches will look when he’s maxing out his effort over one inning.

Etc.

* Byron Buxton asked White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery to sign a baseball card for his kids, and he gave Montgomery a bat in return. “Just a baller,” Buxton said. “He goes up there and he takes great at-bats, quality at-bats. Honestly, it looks like he’s been in the league for a couple of years with some of the at-bats you see him take.”