Pitcher List Conversations are transcripts of interviews with professional baseball players – and sometimes the players discuss topics other than baseball. This has been lightly edited for clarity.

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If there is a certified pitching nerd elder, it is certainly Adam Ottavinowhose career was characterized by experiments and reinventions.

Now 38, Ottavino is aware that his days in the bullpen may soon be coming to an end, and he was in a slightly reflective mood when the New York Mets visited Coors Field to play the Colorado Rockies on August 6-8, 2024.

Also participating in this conversation were Kyle Newman (Denver Post) and Patrick Lyons (Just Baseball). I didn’t record the entire interview because some of it was very Colorado-focused, but it’s worth noting that Ottavino told Newman, “For me, 2018 is definitely my best year — I pitched a lot and I pitched well.” (That’s the last season the Rockies made the playoffs.)

Ottavino talked about his approach to pitch development and adjustment, his libero and what might be next for him.

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Renee Dechert: Over the course of your career, you have become something of a “pitching alchemist.” You always seem to be trying things out and looking for new things. How do you approach developing pitches?

Adam Ottavino: Developing pitches is more about figuring out what’s missing in your current arsenal and solving the puzzle. In my case, it was mostly about knocking out lefties, so I have to attack lefties with every tool I have. The more weapons I have, the better, but I’m still learning all the time.

Last year I tried to train using cutters against lefties and found out the hard way that maybe that was a mistake. So that’s how it is. It’s trial and error and I think that’s my approach: develop as much stuff as you can, put it into action, see how it goes and constantly re-evaluate.

RD: How do you make adjustments during the season? You build these things in the offseason and then the games start. How do you make those adjustments on the fly?

AO: Usually every spring training, I have a plan of how I want to approach everyone that year, and I try to stick to it at least through May. And by the time we get to the end of May, I feel like I have enough information to pivot if I need to. I can either stick with it or pivot. I’ve had to pivot a lot of years, but I think that’s usually enough time where I feel like I’ve learned the lessons I need to learn and what direction to go in.

RD: In other words, you want to collect enough data before you start making changes.

AO: Yes, I don’t want to make a change just in one or two games. But I feel like by the end of May, not only my own data but data from across the league starts coming in and there’s a large sample size at that point. You can see trends and different things that you can apply to your game. So for me, that’s usually the point where I either stick with it or deviate from it.

RD: It looks like you’ve gone back to your libero. Last year you didn’t use him as much, but now he’s an important part of your arsenal. Can you talk about your relationship with that pitch?

AO: This is my daily bread.

It’s always been like that, but it’s more of a right-left thing. I played against right-handers last year. Last year I shied away a bit against left-handers, and that led to me using it less overall.

I’m just trying something different. I’ve had a few years where I’ve been successful against lefties, but overall I’ve struggled and I’m just trying to find the right mix. Last year I thought it might be a good idea to try different pitches.

And this year I’ve decided to take a step back because a lot of my expected numbers are cheap for a libero, so I’m going to live off of that and use my other shots to supplement that.

(Author’s note: There was a discussion here about Ottavino’s pitching “lab” in Harlem, which he no longer has. Instead, it is now a credit union.)

RD: It looks like you somehow gave up on your move this year.

AO: Yes.

RD: What happened to it?

AO: Last year, the changeup was my best throw in run value and I thought I would carry that over into this year. But something was off with my throw this year. I left out more changeups than I would have liked and it broke the consistency and just became a little unreliable.

It’s not gone forever, but right now I’m trying other pitches. That’s part of the turnaround I’m talking about. I arrived at the end of May, looked at things and realized that my move wasn’t producing the results I wanted, so I decided to go in a different direction.

RD: Merrill Kelly once told me that he was fed up. Is that your experience?

AO: Yes, I mean, sometimes it does. Even with sweepers, it doesn’t feel the same. Sometimes I have to move my fingers a little bit and try to find the right spot.

But it’s human nature to tinker, and sometimes you get away from something that might be good by accident, and then you have to try to get that feeling back. It can be difficult.

RD: Just two more from me. Which pitch was your favorite this year?

AO: A few weeks ago against Washington, I got into a situation where the bases were loaded and I was able to get out of it with one hit – all left-handed.

One of the big ones was that I threw a front-door two-seamer to James Wood for strike three. That’s a pitch I like to make, but I knew I had to execute it perfectly at that moment or it would be bad news. And I threw a perfect pitch, so I was proud of that pitch.

RD: If you could steal someone else’s pitch, whose would you take?

AO: I would say David Robertson‘s fastball, his cutter.

RD: What do you like about it?

AO: It is simply unique. He and Kenley Jansen and maybe another guy has that kind of cutter – like the true fastball with a lot of vertical break, but it also cuts. It’s really hard for anybody to adjust to that because it’s so rare and people don’t see it.

He’s had a better career than me, he’s a year older than me and he’s a big, big inspiration to me. He was my teammate too and I just saw it in action and I wanted it, and I know I can’t throw it, so I want it.

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Ottavino concluded with a discussion about his future, and the conversation is worth telling in full..

Kyle Newman: You always talk about “when you come back next year”. Next year you’re obviously a free agent. Are you thinking about retirement? Do you think this is your swan song?

AO: This is the first year that I’ve had to face the fact that I’m probably a lot closer to the end than I thought. And I just think I still want to play, and I’m definitely ready to play, but I’m going into the offseason with no worries. If I play, that would be great. If I’m in a good situation, I’ll definitely play, but if not, then I’m OK with not playing.

CN: Given your game analysis methods, would a career as a coach be conceivable for you in the future?

AO: I’m starting to dream a little in my mind and heart about becoming a manager. I would be unorthodox, but I think I could get unorthodox results.

I think most managerial decisions these days are based on pitcher decisions – especially in the bullpen – and I feel like I’ve been doing that for 14 years (laughs).

And the second part is talking to the media, and I know I can do that.

The third part is having difficult conversations, which is something I need to get better at, and some leadership, but I’ve been dreaming about that a little bit, so that might take a while. We’ll see.

CN: Could you imagine taking this path and climbing the career ladder?

AO: Oh no, I’m not going to climb a ladder. I’m going to get straight to the point.

(The group laughs, but Ottavino is serious.)

I’ll do something else until the main event. We’ll get it done that way.

PL: Are there any relievers who have done this before?

Miscellaneous: Not that I know of.

RD: This is fascinating!

Miscellaneous: As I said, it’s a little unorthodox.

PL: It’s for a pitcher. Bud Black is one of the few.

Miscellaneous: Yes.

(Author’s note: Material about the 2018 Rockies season has been omitted.)

CN: So the thing with the manager, are you serious?

AO: Uh, yeah.

RD: I am fascinated.

AO: Dead serious.

RD: I think you got it.

AO: We’ll see what happens. I mean, I might work in media for a while, but I’m JJ Redick: straight from doing something to doing a job.

CN: Okay, JJ Redick.

AO: For me there is no career climbing.

PL: So you wouldn’t do Double-A or Triple-A?

AO: NO.

PL: Pitching coach?

AO: NO.

PL: Really?

AO: Yes.

CN: Straight to the skipper’s job.

AO: I’m just being honest.

RD: I like your attitude.

AO: I think I’ll be great.

CN: No to the other stuff just because you want to spend time with your family?

AO: Well, I mean, I don’t know anything about minor league baseball anymore. I only know major league baseball. So focus on that.

CN: Not even a pitching coach?

AO: Well, it’s OK. I’m not that excited about it.

RD: He wants to be the boss.

AO: I want to be in charge. I want to make the decisions.

(Pause)

I’m not afraid to say it.

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Author’s Note: I must add that Ottavino was wearing a very cool t-shirt, so after taking a photo of his sweeper grip, I asked him if he would mind posing for another one and he said, “Sure.”

Reader, I ordered it.