2007 N.L. Cy young winner: Jake Peavy strives to get better: Padres ace led all league starters in wins, strikeouts and ERA last season and hopes to successfully return the changeup to his repertoire and continue to dominate opposing batters

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JAKE PEAVY'S NOT BROKE. AFTER taking home the Cy Young hardware and the pitcher--s Triple Crown in 2007, he doesn't need fixing. He found his rhythm early and never missed a beat with a dominating fastball-slider two-step, so it's a hard sell to suggest that he's in need of a change.

"You dance with who brung you, and that's the fastball and slider," said his manager, Bud Black.

But as has been the case throughout his career, there is another pitch in the wings waiting for the opportunity to cut in on the fastball-slider package and add a new dimension. The changeup that helped Peavy when he first broke into the big leagues remains a plus pitch in his repertoire, and as Peavy explained after a spring workout, he's not averse to bringing it back.

"Early in my career, I used it a lot," Peavy said. "It really got me established in the big leagues. My slider wasn't as consistent as it's gotten today. I've started throwing more of a cutter these days, too, two different sliders. A lot of times, that's really what is most effective, and it's just been hard to go away from what has worked, is what it comes down to."

Still, with a reputation for throwing hard and being all but unhittable, posting a 2.54 ERA and notching 240 strikeouts on his way to a 19-6 record in '07, it's mind-boggling to think of what could happen if Peavy resuscitates an offspeed pitch capable of throwing hitters off balance and confounding expectations.

"Sometimes Jake gets amped up and it's hard, hard and harder," observed general manager Kevin Towers. "He's got a changeup, and it's a good one, it's a plus changeup, and it'll throw the timing off and help him get quicker outs. Maybe not as many strikeouts, but a chance to keep his pitch count down and help him get deeper into games."

Not that there's anything wrong with how the Padres' ace pitched in games last year. But Peavy recognizes as well as anyone the benefit of subtly expanding his arsenal as a means of helping himself and his team in its bid to take the next step.

"The changeup is going to be a big pitch for me, even this year, in sustaining the longevity of my career," Peavy said. "I understand you're not always going to be able to throw 95 at times with a hard slider. When you have those nights when that stuff isn't there, you want to have something to fall back on, to be able to change speeds and get outs. It's certainly something we're working on. I definitely think it can be a plus pitch for me. I want to get it to where it's another thing for those hitters to think about. If you talk to most hitters who face me, they're worrying about sinker-slider."

Sharing a clubhouse with changeup artists like Trevor Hoffman and Greg Maddux makes it hard to ignore the power of the pitch. And as an organization, the Padres emphasize command of the pitch from the moment their prospects enter their minor league system.

"We push it strongly in our farm system," Towers said of the importance of the changeup. "At the A-ball levels, that is the one pitch that we are adamant about our pitchers learning at a young age. It is truly the equalizer."

The pitch is experiencing something of a renaissance, thanks to a wide-reaching generation of pitchers from Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine to Eric Gagne and Brandon Webb consistently showcasing its effectiveness. The ever-evolving philosophy of pitching often places the ability to force an opposing hitter to change his bat speed as an even more effective technique than the ability to change eye levels.

"One thing about Jake, with hard-hard, even though he does vary the velocity on the slider, with something softer, it really disrupts the timing," Black said. "If you can have the range in velocities, that's the killer. If he can throw a few more pitches in the high 70 mph range to go with the fastball in the low 90s, that is the real advantage for a pitcher. Jake's capable of having that broader range."

Ultimately, Black is in no rush to tweak an ace who had one of the most dominant seasons of any pitcher in recent history last year, but he also recognizes in Peavy the continuing drive to set his sights on higher goals.

"Pitchers and players both always think there's more," Black acknowledged. "That's just the competitor in them. I don't think the good ones are ever satisfied."

For Peavy, the mixture of competitive ambition along with a confidence in the changeup borne from his more extensive use of it earlier in his career --particularly against some of the dangerous left-handers he has repeatedly faced in the N.L. West--promises the forecast of an impending perfect storm if he decides to actively reintroduce opposing hitters to yet another effective pitch to fear.

"We made a conscious effort last spring to get it in there," Peavy said of his changeup. "I'm going to do all I can to make sure that happens. It's just finding the right opportunities to throw it.