 The development of Hamels ' changeup is attributed by his high school pitching coach , Mark <unk> , 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 . <unk> Jones , who was a star @-@ third baseman for the rival Atlanta Braves commented that Hamels is the " best <unk> in the National League ... you have to respect his fastball , and his change @-@ up is devastating . If you 're <unk> fastball and you get change @-@ up , you 're way out in front of it . His change @-@ up is a soft <unk> 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 <unk> rate ( percentage of balls in play that were <unk> ) , including to over 50 @-@ percent in 2011 . 
