Jesse Hahn to scrap his slider

John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group reports that Athletics starter Jesse Hahn will attempt to phase his slider out of his repertoire for the 2016 season, believing it may have contributed to his injury woes this past season. Hahn will instead work on improving his change-up.

Hahn, 26, was limited to 16 starts last season as he suffered from elbow and forearm issues. He last pitched in July 1. From Hickey’s column:

“We tried some things and I think it was the slider causing problems,’’ Hahn said Sunday morning, the first official workout of A’s pitchers and catchers at Fitch Park. “At the very least, I know it wasn’t helping my arm. So I’m going to go without it and incorporate the changeup more.’’

The Athletics acquired Hahn from the Padres in December 2014 in the Derek Norris trade. Hahn will slot behind Sonny Gray in the rotation and his new approach will hopefully allow him to complete the season intact.

[graphiq id="929eYRtjykJ” title="Jesse Hahn 2015 Pitch Selection” width="600" height="503" url="https://w.graphiq.com/w/929eYRtjykJ” link="http://baseball-players.pointafter.com/l/18518/Jesse-Hahn” link_text="Jesse Hahn 2015 Pitch Selection | PointAfter”]

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