Will American League hitters adjust to Zach Britton's sinker this year?

One concern that some fans seem to have about Orioles closer Zach Britton is the sense that American League hitters will make an adjustment against him to make his job tougher in 2015.

The adjustment would be laying off more of his sinkerball pitches that dip low and out of the strike zone. The thinking is, lay off the pitch, make him bring it up in the zone and then they can hit it with more authority.

Sounds reasonable, but Britton doesn't exactly buy that theory.

"Hitters will make adjustments, but it's not this big thing where you have to change everything you do," he said. "At the end of the day, if I locate a fastball, they can know it's coming - and toward the end of last year they did - but if I locate it, I will get outs.

"Any of these guys in this clubhouse can tell a hitter what is coming, but if they locate it right, they can get the out. It is more adjustments with command. That is why the string drill (to encouraging pitching down) and command of the fastball is so important. But the breaking ball would give me another option to keep guys off balance. They have to worry about two pitches rather than one."

Yes, that breaking ball. We didn't see it much last year. Britton didn't need it much. He pounded his heavy sinking two-seamer in the mid 90s, and sometimes with even more zip, and was incredibly effective, going 3-2 with a 1.65 ERA and 37 saves in 41 chances. He moved into the closer's role in mid-May.

Britton has worked on his breaking ball during spring training just in case he needs it more this year. It's a hybrid of a true curve and a slider - a slurve, he calls it.

"I've gotten really good results with it over the course of my career, but last year I didn't get to throw it very much," he said. "New role and I didn't want to get beat with my second-best pitch. Even in spring training, we preach fastball command, so I really got away from my breaking ball. I've worked to incorporate the breaking ball more this year at spring training."

It is nice for Britton to know the slurve is there if he needs it, but he also knows the sinker is still the pitch he'll suceed with most of the time.

2014 major league leaders in groundball percentage (minimum 50 innings):
75.3 percent - Zach Britton, Orioles
66.7 percent - Jeremy Affeldt, Giants
64.6 percent - Jared Hughes, Pirates

Britton proved he could get out hitters from both sides of the plate, giving up just a .170 average versus lefty batters and a .182 average against right-handed hitters in 2014.

Another positive for Britton were his many drama-free saves. No closer rolls through every inning 1-2-3, but Britton had a lot of low-pitch count saves.

Of his 37 saves, 32 came in 16 pitches or fewer, 28 came on 14 pitches or fewer and 23 came with 12 pitches or fewer. He got well over half his saves in a dozen pitches or fewer.

Britton saved 22 of 24 after the All-Star break. While he has been in the role less than a year, the Orioles must feel they are in good shape in the ninth inning heading into a new season.