After a series of poor results while relying heavily on his fastball, Doolittle has started changing his pitch mix, working heavily with pitching coach Derek Johnson, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Doolittle threw his first slider of the season and his first changeup since 2016 in Sunday's scoreless inning against the Braves.

EDGE Analysis

Over the course of the season, Doolittle has thrown 434 fastballs of his 481 pitches altogether, with an average fastball velocity of 92.8 mph, down from 2019. He's been getting diminishing returns from that fastball, allowing a 4.55 ERA and 1.66 WHIP over 27.2 innings, falling out of the mix for primary roles in the Reds' bullpen in the process. Cincinnati's bullpen has pitched so poorly in the aggregate, however, that if these changes stick, Doolittle could work his way back into the mix for a more important role.