The biggest change is around Hoffman's splitter. After throwing the pitch just 12% of the time last year, he's thrown it 31.5% of the time this year, making it his No. 2 pitch behind his fastball.

The kick change, a pitch slowly gaining traction in baseball, has ties to a former Nationals’ minor leaguer, who found a way to stay around the game.

Maybe the kick-change needs another hero like Charles Bender to lodge it into our collective pitch grip lexicon. — The Athletic’s Will Sammon contributed to this story.