Bryan Hudson Likes His Third Pitch Better Than Ever, But Has Added a Fourth for Good Measure

[Matthew Trueblood]

Four-seam heat and a big, lethal sweeper were the calling cards for the huge lefty last season. Entering 2025, he feels like his third pitch is also in a great place—but is excited about the promise of a newfound fourth option.

Image courtesy of © Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

It's excruciatingly hard to be a lefty starter in the big leagues without a changeup, so back when Bryan Hudson was trying to make it as a starter, he had one. It was never exactly the first option, though.

"It was always my least favorite pitch, right?" Hudson reflected, in the Brewers' spring training clubhouse in Maryvale Sunday. "Hard to get confidence in it. It’s not a swing-and-miss pitch. I don’t really care to throw anything that gets hit very often. And the changeup was just one of those."

When he made a switch to the bullpen, therefore, the changeup was the first bit of fat he cut out of his arsenal. In short bursts and with some selective matchup usage, Hudson could get righties out even while living mainly on his fastball and sweeper. Once he developed the cutter to force a third thought into opponents' heads, he was able to live without the change relatively comfortably—for a while.

As Jack Stern noted after Hudson's 2025 Cactus League debut, though, there's change afoot. Hudson busted out the changeup a few times in that first appearance, creating a new movement pattern altogether.

"I worked on it last year. Just kinda worked on it a little bit, and then kind of got away from it, just in-season. You know, I had my three pitches working," he said. "And then this offseason, I just went to work on that. Just being able to add something that goes left into my arsenal."

The process of adding a pitch can be a long one, for a relief pitcher, though. Hudson worked on the change frequently throughout 2024, but never actually brought it into a game. Unlike starters, relievers have to be ready to pitch almost any day, which interferes a bit with the process of racking up reps on a new project pitch. Hudson feels finding the time to try it is one thing, but feeling good enough to trust it is another.

"You just gotta find the right time to use it. I’d throw it in catch play and before, everyday, and that kind of stuff," he said. "But just because I’m doing all that doesn’t mean I’m gonna use it in the game—which I still probably will, but maybe not every day. It just kind of depends. The changeup’s a big feel pitch. It’s kind of a day-to-day basis with it right now. I throw it every day in catch play, and it all feels good, but do I feel good enough to throw it in a game and trust it over some of my other pitches? That differs day to day."

The version of the pitch he's found at least some comfort with is a fairly typical circle-change, but Hudson holds it slightly offset, off one of the seams. That's how he feels he can best achieve the effect he wants, while still keeping the pitch on the plate and forcing hitters to chase it—or even take a called strike, when it catches them off-guard.

"It’s moving good. It’s just, I gotta be consistent with it, have confidence to throw it in the zone," Hudson said. "Right now, I’m throwing it strike, strike, ball pretty often. Just need to get it to where it’s strike, strike, strike."

Even as he works on this fourth offering, though, Hudson isn't backing off his dedication to the cutter, that third pitch he brought along so much in 2024. Throughout last season, the pitch largely worked as a way to subvert hitters who tried to sit on his fastball and sweeper. He had to deploy it carefully, to work back into counts and set up his better pitches without getting hurt on it. With his stuff recharged and his feel for the pitch improving all the time, though, he's hoping that will change in 2025.

"I like my cutter, man. Last year was good trial and error for me," he said. "I kinda learned where I can throw it and where I can’t. I just took that this offseason. Up and in, down and away, I liked it. As long as they keep getting some ugly swings and misses, and I can keep putting it where I want it, I think I’ll be in a good spot with it."

We live in the era of the four-pitch reliever. Even as pitchers seem to gain an advantage with each passing year, hitters are getting better all the time, too. With his offseason work, Hudson is following the latest trend among even those who work one inning at a time, most of the time: have enough weapons in the arsenal to make guess hitters go insane—or at least, go back to the dugout frustrated.

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[Harold Hutchison]

I said it before, but I think Hudson could be a sneaky good rotation candidate for the Brewers.

[Matthew Trueblood]

5 hours ago, Harold Hutchison said:

I said it before, but I think Hudson could be a sneaky good rotation candidate for the Brewers.

I don't think he'd hold up to that kind of workload at all—and I don't get the sense that he's even interested in trying it. He's comfortable in this role. He wants to excel in it, rather than escaping it. Like, I think he would love to eventually emerge as a closer, or at least be the No. 1 lefty option in the pen for them, but not to try his hand again as a No. 4 starter.

[jesusoftheapes]

On 3/4/2025 at 1:15 PM, Matthew Trueblood said:

I don't think he'd hold up to that kind of workload at all—and I don't get the sense that he's even interested in trying it. He's comfortable in this role. He wants to excel in it, rather than escaping it. Like, I think he would love to eventually emerge as a closer, or at least be the No. 1 lefty option in the pen for them, but not to try his hand again as a No. 4 starter.

I think that is like believing in time travel.    I think the difference in starting and long relief is not that much of a difference.   I think he could be the most durable pitcher ever from here till he retires.   I can say that with the same surety that he cannot do it.   Each pitch is a mystery for the future of any pitcher,     I think it would come down to what Hudson believes he can do more than any one opinion on things anyways.  

I like Hudson as a starter in theory and always saw him as a future starter in the MLB but things do change in a players career .  Plus he is awesome in the Bullpen so either way it's a win.    I just like watching him pitch.     

[jesusoftheapes]

On 3/4/2025 at 7:45 AM, Harold Hutchison said:

I said it before, but I think Hudson could be a sneaky good rotation candidate for the Brewers.

preach!    The people who always say things are "not possible" about anything are usually wrong in the end so if we see him start someday we can say to those who doubted "towadaso!"  if he never starts then that is more than okay too.    

He is really good in that pen though .  I get the reasons why people do not want to try it out with him but  I still want to see if he can do it someday.   

[Frisbee Slider]

Did we ever get a satisfying explanation for why Hudson was sent to Nashville last season?

[Team Canada]

Was it not clear? He had a pretty significant velocity drop, they sent him down to have control over his workload. Initially I think the hope was he would be back up, but the results were just never there.

[wiguy94]

1 hour ago, Team Canada said:

Was it not clear? He had a pretty significant velocity drop, they sent him down to have control over his workload. Initially I think the hope was he would be back up, but the results were just never there.

The results were still there. He dominated in AAA but the stuff never rebounded.

[wallus]

Hudson will have to be managed a little better in 2025. I like the 2 inning appearances but they will need to give him enough days off and I wouldn't be opposed to a couple of planned options to AAA for rest.

[jay87shot]

I won't mind trying Hudson as a starter down the road, the issue will be if he can buildup enough stamina and stay healthy. With his size and extension he probably can be successful as a starter throwing 88-90 if he ends up with 4 solid pitches. At some point last year I thought we could maybe piggyback Misi and Hudson, if each can throw like 3 innings every 4 days that could be amazing. The opposites of the 90-92 mph of the lefty with 98-100 right would really mess with timing, especially if the we went like Ashby and Yoho to close (hard lefty to slower righty).

I like the idea of giving Huddy 2 innings every 3 games. If he throws over 35-40 pitches make it 4 days. That likely ends up with 50 games and 100 innings give or likely take a few games/innings. That maximizes his value and makes a nice routine to keep his arm fresh.

[Frisbee Slider]

3 hours ago, Team Canada said:

Was it not clear? He had a pretty significant velocity drop, they sent him down to have control over his workload. Initially I think the hope was he would be back up, but the results were just never there.

I guess I never saw him struggle or get shut down due to injury. 

[Team Canada]

Plenty of details from this site's article last September:

 

[Harold Hutchison]

On 3/6/2025 at 11:21 AM, Team Canada said:

Was it not clear? He had a pretty significant velocity drop, they sent him down to have control over his workload. Initially I think the hope was he would be back up, but the results were just never there.

He struggled in July, but in August, he'd adjusted and was almost as dominant as he was from April-June. He's a legit pitcher - and the big question is stretching him out.

[sveumrules]

11 hours ago, Harold Hutchison said:

He struggled in July, but in August, he'd adjusted and was almost as dominant as he was from April-June. He's a legit pitcher - and the big question is stretching him out.

I’d say the big question is if he can stay healthy and effective for a full MLB season as a reliever since he came up short of that last year.

If he can’t make it through a full season relief workload, odds are he wouldn’t hold up as a starter either.