ChrisOLeary.com > ... > ... > ... > Pitcher Injury Analysis Project > Analyses

Pitcher Analyses

11/17/2005

In an effort to develop my ability to troubleshoot the motions and mechanics of the pitchers I coach, in November of 2005 I began to put together a number of analyses of the motions and mechanics of a number of professional pitchers.

As I put together more and more of these analyses, I began to notice what I believe are a number of patterns. As a result, I am now in the process of conducting a more formal study of pitching motions and mechanics, looking for similarities and differences in the mechanics and motions of pitchers who are...

  • More injury-prone.
  • Less injury-prone.

Based on the patterns that I believe I am seeing, I have started making predictions and about what I believe will happen to young pitchers and selecting picks and pans in terms of pitching mechanics.

Proper And Improper Pitching Mechanics
If you are just interested in the topic of proper pitching mechanics, I have put together a few pieces that you might be interested in. In terms of proper pitching mechanics, this includes...

     - Roger Clemens
     - Greg Maddux

In terms of problematic pitching mechanics, this includes...

     - Mark Prior
     - Anthony Reyes
     - Adam Wainwright
     - Kerry Wood

Photographic Analyses
When I first started analyzing the mechanics of pitchers, I did do by by stitching together large numbers of pictures of the same pitcher. The strength of this approach is that I can use high-resolution images. The weakness is that it can be hard to get a sense of exactly what a pitcher does when. However, I'm going to leave them up on my site since I think they have some value. I know that putting them together helped me get a good understanding of how pitchers actually throw the ball. Just keep in mind that some of these are a little old and possibly out of date.

THE GREATS
Relatively injury-free pitchers with had long, successful careers, I believe due to their superior mechanics.

THE ENIGMAS
Pitchers who I think had superior mechanics but who also, for some reason, had serious injury problems.

THE CREAM OF THE CURRENT CROP
Active pitchers who I think have superior mechanics and who I believe will have long careers as a result.

PITCHERS WITH PROBLEMATIC MOTIONS & MECHANICS

PITCHERS WITH SERIOUS ELBOW PROBLEMS

PITCHERS WITH SERIOUS SHOULDER PROBLEMS

PITCHERS WITH SERIOUS SHOULDER &
ELBOW PROBLEMS

PITCHERS WITH SERIOUS BACK PROBLEMS

TRAINWRECKS
Pitchers who I believe had short, injury-plagued pro careers due to serious mechanical problems.

about | contact | copyright | sitemap | liability policy