The 'New' Pitch That Could Engineer a Zac Gallen Bounce-Back

Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen doesn't like to call it a sinker. The former D-backs ace prefers the term "runner."

How one refers to it is immaterial. The point is, dating back to late 2025, Gallen has begun to utilize a pitch he has not thrown consistently in years — a two-seam fastball with arm-side movement.

"I haven't thrown it since sometime in college," Gallen said. "Just something I've always messed around with because I knew at some point in time I probably was going to need it. So last year we used it a little bit.

"Just giving hitters a different direction to think about. Most of my stuff is going to break towards my glove side, except for the change-ups. So maybe just adding another wrinkle in there... just something for the hitters have to honor a little bit more."

An extra tool in his belt — one that offers a different movement profile — could be key to Gallen leaving an ugly 2025 season in the rearview mirror.

Diamondbacks' Zac Gallen Working on Developing Sinker

Feb 18, 2026; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen (23) poses for a photo for MLB media day at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-Imagn Images | Allan Henry-Imagn Images

Gallen threw just 79 of those "runners" in 2025. 47 of them came in a three-start stretch between July 27 and August 8, over which he allowed six runs in 18 innings — a small-size 3.50 ERA in the midst of a career-worst 4.83 ERA season.

Gallen threw the most (24) in a game on that August 8 start; it was his best of the three outings, allowing one run over six frames with six strikeouts.

"This year, just going to try and take the next step with it," he said. "We're definitely going to, I think, try to use it more than we have in the past."

Gallen threw five sinkers in Saturday's start against the San Francisco Giants, juxtaposed against 20 four-seam fastballs. He gave up an RBI single on the first one he used, but got a whiff and a called strike on two of his next four. Gallen said he thought the pitch improved as the game progressed.

It was not, however, the prettiest overall spring outing for the righty. Gallen gave up his first runs of the Cactus League, allowing seven base hits (including a solo homer) over 2.2 innings.

His four-seam velocity averaged 94.8, topping out at 96.4. Those are exceptional readings, as Gallen averaged 91.8 MPH and 93.5 MPH on that offering in his 2024 and 2025 spring camps.

The four-seam wasn't exactly the problem — it was the changeup. Gallen cited "inconsistent movement" on that pitch, which accounted for three of his four hardest-hit balls, including the homer.

"It was more of the shape," he said. "It's just very inconsistent on whether it's having action or not having action. The ones you saw today that were for base hits just didn't have that bottoming action."

Gallen said his changeup is usually the last one to get up to its normal profile, saying it's, "Just kind of more of a feel pitch, so I'm not too overly concerned about it."

Gallen called Saturday a "solid outing for spring training," and said his "middle" starts of Cactus League play are more focused on fine-tuning specific pitches or hitting certain locations.

"We used a little bit different of a game plan in a sense. ... like just different spots to use [the sinker and changeup]. But for the other stuff, fastball, curveball, slider it felt pretty good," he said. "All in all, it felt pretty good. Played well, came out of my hand pretty good."

He'll get one more start before taking the mound opening day at Dodger Stadium, and will approach that outing more similarly to a regular-season game.