Making Change for the Better

The arm speed indicated heat, but when the ball came out of Angel left-hander Jarrod Washburn’s hand in the fourth inning Saturday in Camden Yards, it floated at 84 mph, not quite an Eric Gagne-caliber changeup, but effective enough to strike out Oriole outfielder Luis Matos looking.

Ten years of research and development of baseball’s time-tested off-speed pitch is finally paying off for Washburn, who is 7-1 and leads the American League in victories entering tonight’s start against Baltimore.

“The changeup is something I worked on in college and the minor leagues,” Washburn said. “I knew I needed a good changeup to be successful, but not until last year did it become an effective pitch for me.”

A nagging shoulder injury that zapped his fastball of some late life in 2003 may have been the best thing that ever happened to Washburn. He rarely threw anything but fastballs in his first five years in the big leagues; suddenly, he was forced to rely on a changeup and slider. Now he has them, plus his lively fastball has returned.

“The hardest thing for me with the changeup was to trust the grip and to throw it with the same arm speed as the fastball,” Washburn said. “... Plus, there’s about 50 different changeup grips; you have to find the one that works for you.”

Gaining command of a breaking pitch was just as laborious. Washburn had a nasty slider in college and in his first minor league season, but as he learned the changeup, he started throwing a curveball in double-A. Then, he lost the feel for his slider.

“Last year, I started getting the feel back,” he said. “I realized my arm angle didn’t allow me to throw the curve effectively, so I bagged it.... I figured, why bother having two terrible breaking pitches? I might as well work on one and try to make it mediocre.”

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With the Angels having scored three runs in their previous three games, Manager Mike Scioscia shuffled his lineup Thursday night, moving Jeff DaVanon from third to fifth -- behind Vladimir Guerrero and Jose Guillen instead of in front of them -- rookie Casey Kotchman from sixth to seventh and Bengie Molina from seventh to sixth in hopes of providing more protection for Guillen.

“DaVanon can set the table ahead of Vlad and Jose or take advantage of situations behind them,” Scioscia said. “We’ve been stuck in the mud a little bit, and Jose has been getting pitched a little tougher.”

ON DECK

Opponent -- Baltimore Orioles, three games.

Site -- Angel Stadium.

TV -- Channel 9 tonight, Fox Sports Net Saturday night and Sunday.

Radio--KSPN (710), KTNQ (1020).

Records -- Angels 26-15, Orioles 20-17.

Record vs. Orioles -- 2-1.

Tonight, 7 p.m. -- Jarrod Washburn (7-1, 4.68) vs. Eric DuBose (3-3, 5.20).

Saturday, 7 p.m. -- Kelvim Escobar (2-2, 4.78) vs. Sidney Ponson (3-3, 5.69).

Sunday, 1 p.m. -- Aaron Sele (2-0, 2.97) vs. Daniel Cabrera (2-0, 1.42).