By picking up his pace, Sam Long positions himself to pick up more innings for SF Giants

SAN FRANCISCO — When Sam Long was called up for his first stint with the Giants last season, director of pitching Brian Bannister had a challenge for him: Just try to be as quick as Woody.

That’s fellow Giants starter Alex Wood, no better example of a pitcher who prioritizes promptness. Wood talks quickly and works even faster on the mound. Only 14 pitchers take less time between pitches, according to Baseball Savant, and not many of them move as many body parts as quickly as Wood does in his jolty yet effective delivery.

Unlike Wood, who speaks with a diction that mimics his pace on the mound, Long lets each word roll off his tongue before moving on — or maybe even thinking about — the next one. Moving fast on the mound didn’t exactly come naturally.

Yet, so far this season, Long is one of those 14 pitchers who has worked quicker than Wood.

“That was sort of their communication with me, just try to be as quick as Woody,” Long said. “OK, I’ll be quicker than him then.”

Mission accomplished: At 12.7 seconds between pitches with the bases empty, Long has shaved almost 2 seconds off Wood’s average pace of 14.5 seconds. Only two pitchers in the majors — Chicago’s Wade Miley and Milwaukee’s Brent Suter — have worked faster than Long this season.

“It’s hard not to notice. He’s friggin’ moving out there,” Wood said with the tone of a proud papa. “I think it’s been good for him because you kind of end up pitching relentlessly without even thinking about it.”

Wood, who has pitched with a pace as long as he can remember, has developed a quick-and-easy way to explain why it’s an effective way to work.

“When you’re on the mound, you’re either on offense or defense,” Wood said. “You can usually tell who’s on offense and who’s on defense. You watch Sammy Long, the way he’s throwing right now, he’s on offense.”

The results were on display most recently on Saturday against the Dodgers as Long mowed through three scoreless innings against the top-scoring lineup in the majors. He hasn’t allowed a run in nine innings, spanning four appearances, lowering his ERA this season to 2.00.

The Giants have an opening in their rotation for Wednesday’s finale against the Royals, and while they haven’t announced any official plans, Long is believed to be a strong candidate.

“Very comfortable having him pitch in a bulk role at the beginning of the game,” manager Gabe Kapler said after Long’s three shutout innings against the Dodgers, during which his velocity touched 96 mph, a notable increase from last season.

Although Bannister first broached the subject of picking up the pace during one of Long’s brief stints in San Francisco last season, it took some time for Long to incorporate the advice. This is the first season he’s consistently worked at such a pace.

“It’s one of those adjustments where it’s not going to feel great at first,” Long said. “It was a little uncomfortable. The idea of going away from what’s worked for the most part in the past to hopefully improve it, it’s a bit of a leap of faith. But it’s a good feeling knowing that guys we have around here know what they’re talking about so it’s easy to trust their ideas.”

Long’s adjustment embodies a philosophy preached team-wide by Giants pitching coaches: San Francisco has four of the 20 fastest workers in the majors — Long, Wood, John Brebbia and Logan Webb — while no other team has more than two.

But Long expanded the scope of speeding things up beyond just the time between pitches.

He’s also shaved up to a second off the time it takes him to complete his delivery, which he says is a major factor in the effectiveness of his changeup this season. Hitters are batting .160 against the pitch this year and whiffing 32.7% of the time, compared to .222 average and 29.7% whiff rate last season.

As recently as last year, Long took between 2.9 and 3.1 seconds to deliver a pitch out of the windup, but he said he’s decreased the average time to 2.1 to 2.2 seconds and even been timed below 2 ticks.

“It’s harder for a hitter to feel timed up when I throw my changeup at that tempo,” Long said. “When I was slower they could make the adjustment sooner. But they’re just a bit sped up in the box right now.”

Long tries to tune out exterior noises when he’s on the mound, but he gets satisfaction out of hearing his teammates relay the sounds from the opposing dugout.

“I don’t really listen,” Long said, “but guys will say when I come off the mound they’re yelling from the dugout, ‘Slow him down! Slow him down!’ … There’s some batters that like to take a little more time, which is fine with me. It might piss them off when I speed up.”

How often does he notice a hitter flustered by his pace?

“At least once an outing,” Long said with a smile.

Wood has developed a reputation for not just working quickly between pitches but for not wasting any time with his warm ups, either. It’s a common scene for Wood to be standing on the mound, waiting for a catcher to warm him up.

And on Saturday, as Long’s song of choice (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ “Breakdown”) played over the loudspeakers at Oracle Park before first pitch, Long was on the top step of the dugout. Moments later, he was the first one on the field. The next inning, he was so quick to the rubber that he was left to stand and wait, just like Wood.

“I like to get it and go. If you’re ready to go, I’m ready to go. We don’t have to wait around. Let’s go to battle,” Long said. “I understand why people don’t want to work that quickly, but when I’m in compete mode, I’m ready to go. I don’t need that extra breath. I’ll take that extra breath after I’m done with the inning and I’m back in the dugout.”