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Povich hopes he can use his new slider against left-handed and right-handed hitters. (Ulysses Mu\u00f1oz\/The Banner)<\/p>\nSARASOTA, Fla. \u2014 It does not take advanced analytics to realize the situations in which Cade Povich found himself in the most trouble. It is a universal truth in baseball \u2014 behind in the count, pitchers are at a massive disadvantage.<\/p>\n
The Orioles left-hander was especially susceptible in those situations the last two years, because batters knew what was coming. Consider the 3-0 count he reached against Taylor Ward last week during a live bullpen session. Ward\u2019s teammates urged him to swing away, and Povich\u2019s four-seam fastball in the heart of the strike zone turned into a home run.<\/p>\n
A few batters later, Povich had a better answer.<\/p>\n
He fell behind Leody Taveras, 2-0. Instead of turning to the four-seam fastball again, Povich fiddled with the ball, found that new grip and ripped his new pitch \u2014 two of them, freezing Taveras, before a high four-seamer drew a whiff and a strikeout.<\/p>\n
That was the gyro slider, which is a new addition to Povich\u2019s arsenal. As he readies for a competitive battle for a place in the starting rotation (or even in the bullpen as a lefty specialist), this new offering could elevate the rest of Povich\u2019s attack plan, giving him a path out of behind-in-count situations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m 2-0, 2-1 is when guys have really good results off me,\u201d Povich said. The gyro slider is something he can throw \u201cto either steal a strike or get weak contact, is what I\u2019m striving for. So far in spring training, I\u2019m getting decent results with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
What, exactly, is a gyro slider? It is not a pitch slathered in tzatziki sauce. <\/p>\n
Instead, Povich induces a tight spin, similar to the spiral of a football, which leads to very little horizontal break. The pitch comes out of his hand similarly to his four-seam fastball, following a similar tunnel to the plate, but at the last moment the gyro slider drops just enough to create a whiff or force soft contact. It\u2019s similar to the \u201cdeath ball\u201d that right-hander Trey Gibson throws, though Povich calls it a different name.<\/p>\n
Strike one is the most important pitch for any pitcher, and it\u2019s true for Povich, too. In his career, opponents hold a .710 on-base-plus-slugging percentage when Povich is ahead in a count. When batters are ahead, which means there are more balls than strikes, they have produced a 1.072 OPS.<\/p>\n
Like many pitchers, Povich is frequently tinkering with his arsenal to find ways to combat hitters. The gyro slider is the biggest addition, but he has overhauled his selection in several ways.<\/p>\n
Last spring, he added a kick change. While that may have been his best pitch in 2025, Povich worked at Tread Athletics, a pitch training and development facility, this offseason to augment it. In his own words, he describes it as seeking less kick on his kick change.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe consistency with it last year, it was obviously a really good pitch for swing and miss outside the zone, but it wasn\u2019t necessarily a big in-zone pitch. And the variability with the movement was pretty drastic,\u201d Povich said. \u201cIt was hard to know what it was going to do, and it was probably tough for bullpen catchers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Povich hopes he can use his new slider against left-handed and right-handed hitters. (Ulysses Mu\u00f1oz\/The Banner)<\/p>\n