The Pitching Mechanic
March 2008
Real-Time Illustrations and Analyses of
Proper and Improper Pitching Mechanics
The Pitching
Mechanic - April 2008
3/31/2008
What's The Deal With Rich Harden?
Over the past few weeks I've gotten a number of questions
about what I think the deal is with Rich Harden; why he has
experienced so many shoulder problems over the past few years.
Rich Harden
The short answer is I'm not sure.
If you go through the clips above frame by frame, you
will find no evidence of arm action, timing, or other obvious
problems. Rich Harden does fly open with his glove slightly,
which could make him slightly less efficient, but that's
unlikely to be a huge deal.
All of this makes me wonder about Harden's conditioning
program. A lack of conditioning could increase his risk of
experiencing injuries.
But that's all I've got.
3/30/2008
Concerns About Pitch FX Accuracy
So I'm watching the game tonight on ESPN and am also watching it via
MLB.com's Gameday feature and the Pitch FX system. So far, I'm underwhelmed
by the Pitch FX system and the data it produces. For one thing, it frequently
disagrees (by 10MPH) with the stadium gun. It'll classify an 80 MPH change-up
as a 91 MPH fastball when it got the preceding 91 MPH fastball right. As a
result, I'm reluctant to take very seriously any analyses (e.g. pitch ratios
or movement) that depend on this data.
P.S. The accuracy of the Pitch FX system
improved over time when it came to fastballs, possibly due to a
change in operators, but I'm not at all impressed with how the
system classifies breaking pitches. I saw multiple sliders
misclassified as splitters. Obviously, that will skew any pitch
ratio data (and even make you think a pitcher throws a pitch he
doesn't).
Also, I think the system OVER-estimates horizontal
break and UNDER-estimates vertical break. I saw a couple of
pretty much flat fastballs classified as having 15 and 16 inches
of tail.
Again, I would not trust any analyses that were based
on Pitch FX data.
3/29/2008
Pitcher Analysis - Aaron Crow
I just completed an analysis of Mizzou pitcher
Aaron
Crow's pitching mechanics. This is in response to a glowing
review of his mechanics that I recently came across and that I
strongly disagree with.
3/24/2008
Pitching Mechanics 101
Lately, I have been getting a lot of questions about pitching
mechanics and how I teach them. As a result, I have just
completed an essay entitled
Pitching Mechanics 101 that explains my view of proper
pitching mechanics how I teach them.
3/17/2008
Tim Lincecum and the Inverted L
One of my readers, who is a Physical Therapist (PT), has been
getting on me for not talking more about Tim Lincecum's
Inverted L. As the photos below demonstrate, Tim Lincecum
has always had some Inverted L in his arm action.
Tim Lincecum's Inverted L
Tim Lincecum's Inverted L
Tim Lincecum's Inverted L
Tim Lincecum's Inverted L
Tim Lincecum's Inverted L
In my defense, I did express concern about some Inverted L in
my
analysis of Tim Lincecum's pitching mechanics. The reason I
haven't made a bigger deal out of it, and still think highly of
Tim Lincecum, is that it doesn't seem to affect him as much as
it does some others.
As I have said elsewhere, the
Inverted L isn't injurious in and of itself; you won't
necessarily destroy your shoulder by coming to the
Inverted L
position. Instead, the Inverted L is dangerous because it can
destroy a pitcher's timing and make their arm extremely late. I
point this phenomenon out in my
analysis
of the pitching mechanics of BJ Ryan. BJ Ryan's timing is
absolutely destroyed by his Inverted L.
This may help to explain what
is going on with Barry Zito. He has a significant Inverted L
but, to date, hasn't had any shoulder problems. Of course, his
recent velocity problems suggest that some process may be slowly
destroying his shoulder.
So the bottom line is that Tim Lincecum is at a higher
risk of shoulder problems due to his Inverted L. However, that
risk may not necessarily bear itself out because of Lincecum's
decent timing.
3/10/2008
Why Doesn't Ian Snell Just Marry His Slider?
I was just reading Bill James' new book and in it he says that Ian Snell threw his slider 47% of
the time in 2007. As you may know, I don't like the slider. In
fact, I think it may be the most dangerous pitch in baseball due
to the high-speed supination. The cutter is next on the list for
the same reason. I think falling in love with his slider
destroyed Kerry Wood's elbow and may have done the same thing
for Francisco Liriano's elbow. I'm going to have to see how Ian Snell's elbow holds up.
3/10/2008
A Beef With Bill James Regarding Nolan Ryan
Speaking of Bill James' new book, in it he says something
that bugs me. He talks about how hard Nolan Ryan threw his
fastball. As I have pointed out
elsewhere on this site, what was
unique about Nolan Ryan's fastball was not how hard he threw it.
Rather, what was unique about Nolan Ryan's fastball was how hard
he threw it and how much it moved.
Nolan Ryan's Tailing Fastball
3/9/2008
SI.com: Baseball's Top 20 Young Pitchers
for 2008
A couple days ago SI.com put together a photo essay entitled
Baseball's Top 20 Young Pitchers. I thought my readers would
be interested if I went through these photos and
commented
upon them.
The Pitching
Mechanic - February 2008
|