Zambrano to the Pen?

In relatively recent events, Chicago Cubs manager announced that normally unhittable ace, Carlos Zambrano will be delegated to set-up man duties to help out the Cubbies struggling bullpen. He also mentioned that the return to Ted Lilly to the rotation made this move even more necessary. I'm not sure if I buy it, but alas, I'm not a big league manager. I realize Zambrano has struggled in his first few starts, but he still has the "stuff" of an ace and, as long as he is healthy, will likely bounce back from the early season mishaps.

Regardless, this has nothing to do with LessIsMorePitching or my philosophy. What this does have to do with is the mind set of a pitcher like Zambrano who has to make a change. As a pitcher, you may be asked to make changes to your delivery, your role on the team, or your pitching style. Speaking from experience, late in my professional career, the Diamondbacks asked me to start throwing side arm, after throwing overhand for my entire career. Although this marked the possible end of my career, it has, for others, launched their careers into the next level. For Zambrano, it could go either way. He could become the most dominant set-up man in the league. For you, it could also take one of two courses. No matter what, it starts with your mind set. And this is the point of this blog post. Your coach may not always think the same way you do about different aspects of pitching. However, you are obligated to some degree to try the suggestions your coaches make. If you hate them, hopefully, your coach will take the time to work out an agreeable solution. If this is not the case though, and you are left with an adjustment or change that you are not comfortable with, then it becomes your job to make that adjustment with the optimism and determination of your entire being. Because if you don't, you will be leaving part of your ability off the field. As competitive as baseball is, you cannot afford to only have half your heart on the field.
So far, Zambrano seems to have made the change without causing too much of a fuss. This is called "professionalism" in the biz. Every player could use a dose of this type of approach. Big Leaguers aren't always the best example of how to carry yourself on the field. I, for one, hope my initial reactions are not betrayed later on.

Stay tuned as always.

Until Next Time.

Big Leaguer Breakdown: Doug Fister

I apologize for the lack of posts this week. No real excuses here, I've just been a bit busy. Regardless, it is already Sunday which means its time for another segment of Big Leaguer Breakdown. This week, we look at a lesser known pitcher for the Seattle Mariners. His name is Doug Fister and just this past Saturday he threw 8 innings, giving up 2 runs and striking out four...the day after I added him to my fantasy team. (I take my fantasy baseball very seriously). Fister is a second year rookie this season after spending four seasons in the minors at various levels and making his big league debut last year and totaling 61 innings and a 4.13 ERA. He is 6'8" and uses his size to his advantage; throwing the ball on a great down hill plane and mixing his fastball with plus slider and change up. He is young and wet behind the ears but he is still this week's BLB.

Check out this great slow motion video by youtube user BrianDLarsen1988 to study his mechanics.

Hopefully, the first thing you notice about Doug is how long and lean he is standing on the mound. Fister clearly has the build that scouts look for as they project young college and high school talent. The first 4o seconds of the video shows Doug utilizing and over the head glove movement out of the wind up. Study his hands as the come back over his head and rest right around chest height. At the same time, as the hands come down, the knee raises to meet the glove at chest height. This requires very solid core strength and balance in the lower half as the knee raises past parallel. It is also great, however, for generating momentum as the leg works down and toward the plate.

At the 46 second mark, notice how the front foot is tucked back in toward the body. This small adjustment gets the foot in better position to stay along the mid line path toward the plate. Many young pitchers will allow the foot to stay loose and swing around the mound on its way forward. Unfortunately, this generally causes a multitude of other problems and should be avoided in the saw way that Doug has eliminated this issue.

However, if we watch the video from :46 to :53, we see Fister get all the way to foot-strike without ever getting into what I call the "athletic position." Instead, his back is arched back behind his heels and his front foot is landing closed. We see his glove side clear violently as he attempts to get over that front leg and finish downhill. What saves Doug here is the fact that he is so long and lanky that he is able to get his throwing arm up and through release as the front knee bends. Doug is also utilizes a very powerful hip turn and drive with the back leg which forces the upper half forward and down to release point.

So, at the :56 mark, we see the release point. The first thing we should notice is how far off the mid-line his head falls because of his improper body posture at foot-strike. However, as mentioned before, he is very athletic in his core and is able to get some extension on release. It is the opinion of this blogger that Doug could utilize even more extension if he were to stay athletic longer through the delivery.

Regardless, we see the video conclude with Fister's chest parallel to the ground and full elevation of the back leg. Two key signs that he is utilizing much of his lower half to throw the baseball. It remains to be seen if Doug will blossom into a perrenial all-star but he definitely has size and velocity (he throws 94) on his side. I'd say he is a risky permanent addition to a fantasy roster but with huge upside.

Let me know how your season are going in the real world and I'll answer any fantasy questions as well.

Until Next Time!!

Big Leaguer Breakdown: Matt Cain

Another Sunday means its time for another Big Leaguer Breakdown. This week's victim is another from YouTube user laflippin's fantastic slow motion posts. This time around, we look at a guy whose 2009 was nothing short of an amazing breakout campaign. Having never posted an ERA lower than 3.65 in his previous 5 full seasons (which is pretty good anyways), Matt Cain completed the '09 season with a minuscule 2.89 ERA and 14-8 record on a mediocre San Fransisco team. Enjoy this week's analysis of another major leaguer's delivery.


Click here for the YouTube video of Matt Cain delivering the baseball.

The video begins with Matt out of his wind-up with the ball in his glove and throwing hand by his side. When a pitcher does this, it is important to have the ball held between the pinky and thumb so that it does not rest deep in the glove. The reasoning here is that you don't want the baseball to be difficult to grab and get the seams you need for the pitch you want. I don't know if Cain does this, but I know from experience that it is important to set the ball shallow in the glove and make sure the seams are set either in a two-seam or four-seam pattern. This is important because most pitch grips can be achieved from those two starting points.

As Cain drops back and starts his delivery, we can see how balanced he is with his feet slightly wider than shoulder width as he begins his drop step. Study closely around the :30 mark. We see Cain utilize a very short drop step to maintain this type of balance when the leg begins to lift. Most young pitchers love to step way back and off to the side. I much prefer a drop step similar to Cain's from a balance stand point.

The next position to check out is the :45 mark. We see one of my favorite positions with the leg lift at its highest point. Notice how Matt has purposefully rotated his torso toward 2nd base to hide the ball from the hitter. His hands are tucked around his belt in a good starting position. This low hand slot may be low for some pitcher's taste but it helps with the hand break which is about to follow. However, at the :46 mark, he raises his hands to begin that hand break and separates his hands with what I will call the "down hill" hand break. In other words, the front shoulder and arm is angled upwards toward the sky and the throwing arm is bent in a down angle in relation to the front arm. This is one method of generating whip action in the arm as it comes through, but it is very important to get the back elbow up and through as Matt does at the :51 second mark.

From there, the hips fire through and the elbows follow. Watch how the front elbow rotates forward and down without yanking the body off the midline. The throwing arm follows through with level shoulders and a high three quarters release point. At the :54 second mark, the finish is excellent over a slightly bent front knee. Young pitchers could learn a lot from Cain's ability to go straight toward the target and get extension over that front side.

As always, continue studying the mechanics of the guys who know how to do it.

Keep the questions coming and I'll keep you up to date.

Until Next Time!!

Arm Soreness Vs. Pain

Pain is part of being a pitcher. For better or worse, a pitcher's ability to withstand a fair amount of pain, mostly in his throwing arm, will determine at least some of his ability to progress through the ranks of high school, college and professional baseball. Literally, a pitcher must have a high tolerance for pain to succeed.

Everyone knows that throwing the baseball as much as a pitcher does in one of his starts is very hard on the arm. The over-hand motion is tough on the elbow, shoulder and all related tendons, ligaments and muscles. With every pitch, those muscles create tiny tears and "bleed." The tendons and ligaments are stretched from the bone and manipulated in ways that are not exactly how nature intended. All of these motions create varying degrees of discomfort and pain. To be successful, a pitcher must be able to differentiate between soreness, which can be "thrown through" and pain which indicates injury, which should halt any further throwing.

Soreness is the type of pain that generally results from the over use of the throwing arm and typically resides in the muscles of the arm. For example, after a long outing, the pitcher will find some soreness in the triceps, forearm, behind the elbow and in the back muscles. This type of pain is usually a dull, aching feeling that throbs after the pitch is released. Usually, this pain will subside after a few days of cardio and some light icing. Many times, even throwing itself can help facilitate blood flow to the sore areas and alleviate the pain. Even if the pain persists, it will usually subside with continued throwing (even with some pain) or the cessation of throwing to allow the muscles to heal. A pitcher with this type of pain is usually experiencing tendinitis. Many times, an increase in ibuprofen intake and the aforementioned icing and throwing will help this pain subside in one to six weeks.

On the contrary, the pain from an actual injury will be very acute and sharp. The pain will "shoot" through the injured location during the release of the pitch itself instead of after the pitch has been released. The epicenter of this pain is almost IN the joints. That is to say, the inside of the elbow and inside of the shoulder capsule will create the pain. This indicates an injury, not of the muscles, but of the ligaments, tendons and nerves. The tendons could possibly be torn, the nerve could be pitched, or any other part of the arm including the bone could be compromised. Instead of the inflammation associated with the dull pain of tendinitis, the actual structure of the arm will be altered. Examples of this injury would be the torn labrum (found in the shoulder) or the torn UCL (the tommy john ligament). The elbow could experience bone chips or bone spurs and the shoulder's rotator cuff itself could be torn. Recovery from these types of injuries almost always requires extensive physical therapy, rehab, and surgery. The time to full recovery can range anywhere from 6 weeks to a full year (for Tommy John labrum surgery).

As a pitcher, you must be able to take care of your arm when the pain is only soreness from throwing. This means doing your shoulder and elbow maintenance exercises and ensure that your delivery is as close to flawless as possible to prevent causing any unnecessary wear and tear.

This post isn't meant to scare you, but it is meant to keep you informed so that you can best take care of your body.

Until Next Time!!

Big Leaguer Breakdown: Jake Peavy

It's been a few days since the last post, but it's been a busy week with a wedding and road trip to take care. With that behind me and being that it is Sunday, we find ourselves ready for our next installment of Big Leaguer Breakdown. This week, we will look at one of the Chicago White Sox's best starting pitchers. After 7 seasons with the Padres (including the footage of this video), Jake Peavy was traded, mid-season, to the White Sox while on the DL with an ankle injury. Despite the set back, he was still 9-6 with a 3.45 ERA. His career numbers are even better with a W-L of 95-68 with a 3.27.



Check out this youtube post of Peavy warming up with the Padres by elcarquis.

We can tell immediately that Peavy is not at max effort during his pre-game bullpen. Many pitchers utilize this approach with the thought that they do not want to waste any of their best stuff in the 'pen. However, we see that his mechanics are very repeatable with some key points along the way. Much of Peavy's success is attributable to a mid 90's fastball, but it is also a direct result of the deception created in his motion.

By freezing the video at the :09 mark, we have seen Peavy go over the head with his hands, settle back down and then relift them to shoulder height with the knee lift. This is quite a bit of movement, but it is very beneficial from a timing and arm action standpoint. By going over the head, as the thought process goes, a pitcher can promote both deception (the hitter would have trouble following the ball in the glove) and a fluid arm swing as the motion of the arms facilitates a looser arm on the hand break. As we watch the video, we see Peavy utilize this movement to get compact on the leg lift. From here, we watch the hand break and notice one of the key features of Jake's delivery. At the :10 mark, the hands have separated, but not directly at the target. Instead, Peavy's body rotates in toward the third base side. Thus, the throwing arm will come behind the body toward the first base side. This movement is difficult for a hitter to follow as he will see a lot of the pitchers body and the arm slot will have some rotation to it as it comes to the front and ultimately, toward the hitter.

Two more clicks through this video (still at the :10 mark) and we see exactly what we are looking for. The arms come up and through to release point. Here, we can see Peavy's low three quarters arm slot that allows him to create very effective downward movement. As I've said many times, the upper half rotation is very effective for creating movement on the ball, but it is only helpful if the delivery can be repeated. Peavy is able to do that and we see him here, with his head on target, chest square and ready to finish, executing the pitch with proper finish mechanics.

The rest of the video is much of the same. The other thing to take note of if the straight front leg that Peavy has on all of his pitches after he release the baseball. Many sinkerballers like Peavy and Derek Low feature the straight front leg because it forces them to short arm the baseball, but also promotes even more movement on the fastball. I don't teach this to my pitchers, but some guys can execute it with great effectiveness.

Keep studying these big leaguers and look for what works and what doesn't.

Until Next Time!!

The Key to Long Toss

Just a short piece today. I have been doing quite a bit of long toss recently with my young clients. Everyone seems to know that long toss will help you throw the ball further and harder. However, what they fail to realize that if they do not pay attention to their mechanics when long tossing, they run the risk of creating poor pitching mechanics as well as, possibly injuring their arm.

The key to the distance throwing that is long toss is the ensure the elbows and arms work linerally (in a straight line) to the target. The only thing that should change is the angle of release. When we throw off the mound, we trajectory should be from high to low, ending at the knees of the hitter. On the contrary, when throwing long, the ball should have about a 30 degrees angle of release upward (toward the sky, in a way). The easiest way to throw the ball upwards is to throw around the body in a circular motion. This is completely contrary to what we are trying to accomplish on the mound. Instead, the pitcher must force his elbows upward (with a slight tilt of the front shoulder up) and as the hips turn, the front elbow works (not around) and the back elbow works up and through the release point. The other key is to keep the fingers and hand on top of the baseball, even though the ball is being released higher than normal.

Once the ball is released, the chest and torso should finish forward and down after release. Like pitching off the mound, the front knee must bend slightly allowing the arm to get extended as the arm whips through to follow through.

Work on these techniques next time you throw and be sure to post any questions.

Until Next Time!!

The Art of the Opening Day Start

Greetings and Happy Easter to everyone out there is Less Is More land. With the risen Lord appropriately honored and glorified today, it is only fitting we celebrate with the first day of the regular Major League baseball season. The big game being, of course, Yankees vs. Red Sox and, more importantly in some ways, CC Sabathia vs. Josh Beckett.

So, what does it mean to get the ball on opening day of the season? As a veteran of multiple high school and college open days (I was a reliever in pro ball), I speak from experience when I say it is both an honor and a responsibility to take the ball on day 1. Much can be said for getting that first win of the season out of the way and much of that responsibility falls on that starting pitcher's ability to throw strikes, get ahead, and give your team a chance to win. In some ways, this is the pitcher's job every time he goes out, but some things may be slightly different depending on where you are during you season. In this case, since it is the first game, the general rule of thinking is that the hitters will still be slightly off on their timing and the pitcher should have the advantage. This information should give the pitcher the confidence needed to immediately be in attack mode. There should be no nibbling on the corners and throwing excessive amounts of off-speed pitches. Instead, start with and ride your fastball. Move in and out, up and down, and when you get ahead in the count, then worry about changing speeds. Utilize the hitter's lack of live pitching in spring training to your advantage. Of course, you can't throw every pitch down broadway. It is still essential to locate down and out of the middle of the zone. It is still essential to locate those off-speed pitches where you want to. Suffice it say that the margin for error is slightly larger.

From a pitcher's preparation point of view, there should be no gap in the arm strength category. Generally, you are not going to be expected to go 9 innings. You will, however, be expected to go five to six STRONG innings. Hopefully, you've spent the preseason getting ready physically and mentally. Undoubtedly, you've prepared by throwing to hitters and getting the feel of the catcher and hitter in the box.

For the day of the game, try to make it a bigger deal than it needs to be. As always, the mound is still 60 ft. 6 inches from home and the bases are still at 90ft. Trust your stuff as you toe the rubber with a cool confidence that you know you will out match the opposing hitters. The worst thing you can do is make the game bigger than it is. Remain composed, avoid walks at all costs, and allow your defense to make the plays they are supposed to. By accomplishing these three things, you should find yourself ahead after six and able to turn it over to a fully capable bullpen to take it to the 9th.

Good luck this year to those in pro ball, and for those whose seasons are already under way (high school and college) keep getting sharper every time out.

Until Next Time!!