With Felix Hernandez's BLB already in the books, the other half of the newest nasty starting pitching duo in the Major Leagues seemed a good fit for analysis. He went from mediocrity in 2006 in Cleveland to ace of the Indians' staff in just a year. His Cy Young award winning year in 2008 where he posted a 22-2 record with a 2.54 ERA put him at the top of the list when it comes to best lefties in the league. All of this hoopla got him sent to Philadelphia to become the ace of their staff mid way through 2009. After taking the Phils all the way to the World Series, despite a less dazzling win/loss record, he again established himself as the most reliable starter on the staff. However, this was not enough to keep him in the city to brotherly love. Now, the trade winds have landed him in rainy Seattle as the yin to King Felix's right handed yang. We'll see in this clip some of Cliff Lee's funky left handed mechanics.
Check out this slightly grainy clip of Cliff Lee rocking and firing.
After a much belabored introduction by the commentator, we see one of the most unique attributes of Mr. Lee's mechanics. His large side step to start his delivery is defintley contrary to popular pitching mechanics' rule of thumb. I tend to be a proponent of minimizing movements that do not contribute anything to the delivery itself. By stepping this far to the side, it can be very difficult to bring the leg back up into the leg lift and maintain the posture and balance.
At the 56 second mark in the video, we see Cliff has lifted his his knee up well past horizontal and his hands have lifted in similar fashion to his back shoulder. Cliff Lee utilizes a bit of over-rotation in the shoulders as a means of deception and momentum as well. From my point of view, these mechanics work very well for Cliff Lee, because he is able to repeat them very well. However, I would not recommend such a high hand slot or over-rotation in the upper body.
At 1:20 mark, we see the hand break and beginning of the stride forward. Lee is not directional and does not stay very tall in this position. Generally, we want to keep the back leg loaded with most of the weight still over the rubber. Cliff does this very well, but loses quite a bit of height by collapsing so far on that back leg. Notice also the direction of his front leg is not directional to the target at all. Instead, he works out and around with the weight of the body forcing him to lean back to stay balanced. We see also a very low hand break which will require a lot of athleticism to get back on top of the baseball for release.
Just before foot strike, at the 1:36 mark, we see Lee's elbows have appropriately elevated but the hips are grossly closed as is the upper half. The hitter could literally read the name on the back of his jersey. The commentator draws a line here to show just how target is Cliff's stride. Again, this does a lot to create deception in a delivery. The hitter will have a difficult time tracking the angle of any of the pitches Cliff throws. However, throwing this far across your body makes reaching the inside corner very difficult and puts a lot of strain on the body itself. In fact, looking a few clicks forward, (1:50) we see Cliff's front shoulder has to clear very early and a bit violently to make room for the throwing arm to come through. He does close his stride a touch, but is still leaning back quite a bit as the arm prepares to accelerate forward.
By the time his front foot gets down and his hips fire through, we see a great use of the glove forcing the body to finish to the target. Check out the 2:08 mark to see a good example of posture at release point. Granted, he is still moving across his body some, he has efficiently gotten into a position to release toward the target (which is necessary with his other mechanics). It is no surprise here that he has to clear his head so far off to the side to back toward the target. This flaw is a product of his previous movements and body positioning.
The last portion of the delivery does a lot to showcase his ability to get up and over the front leg and extend to release. Again, I feel this is most likely necessary with such an awkward body positioning earlier on.
So, in conclusion, I would not every teach someone to pitch as Cliff Lee does. However, as I've said many times, if you can stand on your head and repeat your release point and be effective...do it. This delivery works for Cliff Lee and he has capitalized on the the nuances of a very deceptive motion.
Until Next Time!!
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