Cole Sands knew something had to change.
It's not that he was terrible his first two years at Florida State. Not even close. He was featured in the starting rotation each of the last two seasons, and he had some fine moments during both his freshman and sophomore campaigns.
But he was also extremely inconsistent.
To the point that no one -- not his teammates, not his coaches, not even himself -- knew which Cole Sands was going to show up on the mound when it was his turn to pitch.
Judging from the comments being made by teammates and coaches this preseason, the Sands they expect to show up in 2018 is good. Like really good.
"Electric," said All-America pitcher Tyler Holton. "That's the word I'd say. He's changed some pitches around, I guess. He's developed more of a two-seam (fastball), and I mean every hitter that has faced that pitch is like, 'Dude, I can't pick it up. It's tough to hit. It's coming in on me. It's running away.' And he's got a good curveball, got more feel for his change-up. ...
"He's going to be tough."
Sands is coming off a 2017 season in which he was 6-4 with a 5.40 ERA; he recorded 72 strikeouts in 83.1 innings pitched. He was 6-7 with a 4.13 ERA in 2016.
Junior Cal Raleigh has caught Sands each of the last two seasons.
He's been mighty impressed with what he's seen so far as well.
"He looks really good throwing the two-seam," Raleigh said. "It's got more movement. It goes into righties, away from lefties. It's not going to be so much like a traditional fastball. It moves, gets in on hands, misses barrels. It's something that's been working for him, so hopefully it will pay off here in the spring."
It's not necessarily common for a pitcher to make an adjustment like this before his junior season. Especially one with 34 career starts.
But the 6-foot-3 Sands knew if he was going to have a good junior season -- which not only would help his team but his draft stock -- he couldn't keep pitching like he did the previous two years.
"I kind of got flat last year with the fastball," Sands said. "And the slider wasn't as good as it should've been. So some of these new pitches (the two-seam fastball, the curveball) are going to help a little bit, I think."
The main difference between the two-seam fastball and the four-seam fastball is the movement. A four-seamer is thrown harder and straighter. A two-seamer is maybe a few ticks slower on the radar gun, but if executed correctly, it will move enough to throw off the hitter.
"I kind of played around with it this summer, and I had a lot of success," Sands said. "I felt like last year I should've gotten a few more outs than I did with my four-seam. I think my groundball-to-flyball rate (wasn't great). I kept giving up fly balls, which led to home runs.
"So I started trying to sink the ball a little bit, get more ground balls, and it's paid off."
Florida State pitching coach Mike Bell expects the adjustment to help Sands stay in games longer. Instead of being 2-2 or 3-2 on every hitter, he will attack the zone and get more outs early in the count.
"It's prepared him for life after Florida State," Bell said. "He's really worked hard this past offseason. I think he's come back with a little chip on his shoulder. But also it's that maturation process."
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