Via Hardball Talk, the Pirates talk about the radical changes in defense and pitching that put them in the win column.

Back in early July, I wrote a column for USA Today Sports Weekly that noted that the Pirates defense did not account for all of the difference between the FIP and ERA of the Pirates staff. There was something else going on that was causing opponents to make poor contact. From my article:

The Pirates upset timing in two subtle ways. First, they fool batters in the strike zone, leading to taken pitches. FanGraphs lists the percent of pitches in the zone on which batters swing. Pittsburgh pitchers produce the third lowest swing rate, 65.0% versus an NL team median of 65.8%. It’s a small difference, one more called strike per 100 pitches in the strike zone, but its an advantage in the right direction. Jeff Locke, Francisco Liriano, and Jeanmar Gomez all come in with rates under 64.9%, and all own ERAs under 3.00. When batters recognize a pitch as a ball and it turns out to be a strike, they may expand their strike zone to chase some pitches that are actually outside.

That plays into the strength of the staff. The Pirates rank in the middle of the NL in getting batters to chase bad balls, as opponents swing at 30.5% of pitches outside the strike zone. When batters do swing, however, they only make contact 63.7% of the time versus an NL team median of 66.2%. The Pirates rate is the lowest in the NL, meaning they get more swinging strikes on bad balls. It would imply that even when batters make contact on pitches outside the strike zone, that contact is poor. That should lead to a low line drive rate, and easy to field balls in play.

I tried to get a quote from Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage, asking if he was doing something across the staff to achieve this result. He would not comment at the time, but now:

When Charlie Morton arrived at spring training in 2011 following a 2010 season in which he posted a 7.74 ERA, there was a new pitching coach in place, Ray Searage, and a new plan. On the back fields and bullpens of the Bradenton, Fla., complex, Morton focused on bringing back his two-seam fastball, a pitch the previous coaching staff shelved. The two-seamer is often called a sinker due to its downward movement.

“We execute that pitch on a more consistent basis to get (groundballs),” Searage said. “The two-seamer moves more. The two-seamer has angle and moves through a couple of planes.”

Morton’s sinking fastball has been one of the best in baseball this season, leading him to a career-best season. He leads all starting pitchers in groundball percentage at 62 percent.

“When Ray and Jim Benedict were working with me in the spring of 2011, they dropped my arm slot down, and my sinker got better. I was able to repeat my delivery,” Morton said. “It was natural for me. I thought, ‘Where has this been my whole career?’”

It’s not just Morton who has made the transformation from struggling four-seam fastball pitcher to effective sinker-ball pitcher. Every Pirates starter has.

Cool. The whole article is worth the read, as the Pirates seem to have the discovered the conventional placement of infielders is off, and they’ve gone all in on shifts.