Pitching Mechanics Analysis
C.J. Wilson

I've always been nervous about C.J. Wilson's pitching mechanics. Like Mark Prior and Stephen Strasburg, C.J. Wilson has an Inverted W.

C.J. Wilson's Inverted W

He also seems to have the timing problem that tends to result from the Inverted W.

C.J. Wilson's Inverted W

Texas' reappearance in the World Series and the recent speculation that C.J. Wilson could be due for a $100 million payday has led me to lay out exactly what concerns me about C.J. Wilson's pitching mechanics.

C.J. Wilson
Continuous

At a glance, C.J. Wilson has what looks like a smooth, free and easy delivery. However, if you look at delivery frame by frame, you will see a problematic arm action and a significant timing problem as a result.

C.J. Wilson
Stop Frame

The thing to notice is how high C.J. Wilson's back elbow gets (see Frame 24). That contributes to a timing problem where C.J. Wilson's Pitching Arm Side (PAS) is late at the moment his Glove Side (GS) foot plants (see Frame 27); instead of being vertical, his PAS forearm is closer to horizontal. That increases the load on both his elbow and his shoulder, and that torque is visible in the unusual position that C.J. Wilson's PAS arm is in at the release point (see Frame 30).

This timing problem might be somewhat more tolerable if C.J. Wilson was a soft-tosser like Tom Glavine or Jamie Moyer, but the fact that Wilson throws in the mid to low 90s says that his risk is elevated. In fact, you could argue that you can see a hint of a shoulder problem in the fact that C.J. Wilson's velocity seems to be down compared to a few years ago.

The bottom line is that signing of C.J. Wilson to a long-term, $100 million contract is likely to turn into a mistake of Zito-ian proportions for some team. As a Cardinals fan, I can only that team is the Cubs.