 The development of Hamels ' changeup is attributed by his high school pitching coach , Mark Furtak , to the fact that in high school he broke his arm . He could no longer work on his curveball for several months , and was forced to focus on the changeup . Chipper Jones , who was a star @-@ third baseman for the rival Atlanta Braves commented that Hamels is the " best lefthander in the National League ... you have to respect his fastball , and his change @-@ up is devastating . If you 're guessing fastball and you get change @-@ up , you 're way out in front of it . His change @-@ up is a soft sinker that just falls down . " Aside from the changeup , he throws a four @-@ seam fastball in the low 90s ( can reach 94 to 96 miles per hour ( 151 to 154 km / h ) ) , a cutter 87 to 89 miles per hour ( 140 to 143 km / h ) , and an " inconsistent " curveball that sometimes loops and other times is sharp , and hovers in the mid @-@ 70s ( around 73 to 77 miles per hour ( 117 to 124 km / h ) ) . Prior to the conception and advent of his cutter , he briefly threw a two @-@ seam fastball around 2008 and 2009 , before debuting his cutter in 2010 . Once he attained a " feel " for how to effectively utilize his cutter , it helped him increase his groundball rate ( percentage of balls in play that were groundballs ) , including to over 50 @-@ percent in 2011 . 
 The development of Hamels <a href='null_genetive' title='1'><mark>'</mark></a>changeup is attributed by his high school pitching coach , Mark Furtak , to the fact that in high school he broke his arm . He could no longer work on his curveball for several months , and was forced to focus on the changeup . Chipper Jones , <a href='null_relcl' title='2'><mark>who</mark></a>was a star @-@ third baseman for the rival Atlanta Braves commented that Hamels is the " best lefthander in the National League ... you have to respect his fastball , and his change @-@ up <a href='drop_aux' title='3'><mark>is</mark></a>devastating . If you 're guessing fastball and you get change @-@ up , you 're way out in front of it . His change @-@ up <a href='drop_aux' title='4'><mark>is</mark></a>a soft sinker <a href='null_relcl' title='5'><mark>that</mark></a>just <a href='uninflect' title='6'><mark>falls</mark></a> down . " Aside from the changeup , he <a href='uninflect' title='7'><mark>throws</mark></a> a four @-@ seam fastball in the low 90s ( can reach 94 to 96 miles per hour ( 151 to 154 km / h ) ) , a cutter 87 to 89 miles per hour ( 140 to 143 km / h ) , and an " inconsistent " curveball <a href='null_relcl' title='8'><mark>that</mark></a>sometimes <a href='uninflect' title='9'><mark>loops</mark></a> and other times <a href='drop_aux' title='10'><mark>is</mark></a>sharp , and hovers in the mid @-@ 70s ( around 73 to 77 miles per hour ( 117 to 124 km / h ) ) . Prior to the conception and advent of his cutter , he briefly threw a two @-@ seam fastball around 2008 and 2009 , before debuting his cutter in 2010 . Once he attained a " feel " for how to effectively utilize his cutter , it helped him increase his groundball rate ( percentage of balls in play <a href='null_relcl' title='11'><mark>that</mark></a><a href='uninflect' title='12'><mark>were</mark></a> groundballs ) , including to over 50 @-@ percent in 2011 . 
The development of Hamels  changeup is attributed by his high school pitching coach , Mark Furtak , to da fact that in high school he broke his arm . He could no longer work on his curveball for several months , and was forced to focus on the changeup . Chipper Jones , was a star @-@ third baseman for the rival Atlanta Braves commented dat Hamels is tda" best lefthander in the National League ... youu gotta respect his fastball , and his change @-@ up devastating . If you 're guessin fastball anduu get change @-@ up , yyouu're way outt in front of it . His change @-@ up a soft sinker jus fall down . " Aside from thdahangeup , he throw a four @-@ seam fastball in thedaw 90s ( can reach 94 to 96 miles per hour ( 151 to 154 km / h ) ) , a cutter 87 to 89 miles per hour ( 140 to 143 km / h ) , and an " inconsistent " curveball sometimes loop and other times sharp , and hovers in the mid @-@ 70s ( around 73 to 77 miles per hr ( 117 to 124 km / h ) ) . Prior to the conception and advent of his cutter , he briefly threw a 2 @-@ seam fastball around 2008 and 2009 , before debuting his cutter in 2010 . Once he attained a " feel " for how to effectively utilize his cutter , it helped him increase his groundball rate ( percentage of balls in play was groundballs ) , including to over 50 @-@ percent in 2011 .