Melancon has been "toying" with new grips on pitches, explaining his poor results thus far in Cactus League outings, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.

EDGE Analysis

Melancon is experimenting with new grips on his cutter, two-seam fastball and changeup, the last of which he plans to incorporate more heavily into his mix in 2022. The Diamondbacks' projected closer has allowed six runs on seven hits and four walks over 3.1 innings. Saying he's "not concerned" about the results at this point, Melancon talked about testing multiple grips in the relatively safe environment of spring training action, and he can always revert to previous grips. As for the changeup, he said, "I didn't have a change-up for a long time. I've developed one. My goal is to throw one this year and use it often. That's been a major part of this for me." So, the pitcher feels there's nothing to see here in terms of his Cactus League performance.