Big Leaguer Breakdown: Johan Santana

As a left handed pitcher myself, I find it tremendously useful to study some of the best lefties in the game. Without a doubt, Johan Santana can make claim to that distinction based on his many years with the Minnesota Twins and last two years with the New York Mets. He throws three pitches extremely well with his power change-up being his true "out pitch." Of course, it doesn't hurt that he throws 95 mph and locates with pin-point accuracy most of the time. In fact his numbers speak for themselves. In 10 big league seasons, he has a career record of 122-60 with an ERA of 3.20. He has 1733 career strikeouts and only a 1.10 WHIP. So, as we do here at Less Is More, I've decided to analyze Johan's motion for this week's Big Leaguer Breakdown.

Check out this video of Johan warming up to get a look at how he works.


The video is of Johan working out of the stretch and at the end we have a slow motion version of his delivery so we will talk about that portion of the clip. Feel free to watch repeatedly the entire video. Examine the 44 second mark of the video, before he's even lifted his leg - it should be easy to see how tall and athletic he already looks before he even moves. Notice his hand slot as well. They are located up by his shoulder and slightly away from his body. Within the framework of his mechanics, it works extremely well because of how his hand break works. If we watch forward to the 47 second mark, Santana has lifted his leg and gotten more compact within his entire body. His hands have moved in and front leg has gotten "loaded" inward before he works forward.

The next part of his delivery is key to study. Watch as his hands breaks and his front leg works down, but also out. Johan also sinks considerably on his back leg. Typically, I would argue that this would create some problems when trying to work down hill at release. However, in Johan's case, you must notice how quickly his hand break transfer into the "elbow's up"power position. Although the front leg has swung slighty out and around, his body weight stays loaded on the back leg for a longer period of time than the average pitcher. This characteristic is key to notice, because it allows him to transfer his weight exactly at the instance of foot strike (front foot hitting the ground). Again, notice at the 50 second mark, how perfectly his elbows are align and on target. Notice also how his front hip has not yet rotated through, but is also still on contact. By keeping his weight loaded on his back leg longer (even though he does collapse a bit) he is able to truly drive his hips through and, as we all know, if the elbows are up they will follow the hits.

Go ahead and look forward to the 1 minute mark. This is Johan's second slow motion pitch. We are now at the finish of his delivery; something he does with exact replicatin each time. His head is slightly off center, but does finish with absolute athleticism over top of his front leg.

So as we can see with the video, we must be careful to stay loaded on the back leg until the elbows get to their highest point. Although Johan collapses a bit, he times up his hips perfectly with those elbows and his athletic ability allow him to get on top of the baseball and finish down.

Continue to study and make it happen as Johan does!

Until next time!!

What's the Big Deal with the WHIP??

One of the greatest things about baseball, professional, college, high school or otherwise, is the fact that anything and everything can be and IS analyzed through statistics. Baseball truly is the game of numbers. Batting average, ERA, slugging percentage, strike out to walk ratio, home run to strike out; they are all tools for coaches, managers, scouts, and arm chair fans alike to discuss, compare, and decide who is the best, most suited player of each and every variety. Two other statistics that have gained more attention thanks to the talking heads at ESPN (e.g. Buster Olney) is the OPS (on base percentage plus slugging) and more importantly to the 'Intelligent Pitcher' is the WHIP (walks plus hits divided by innings pitched).

Besides the obvious, what makes this statistic so defining(even more so than ERA)that it has become the most important number by which most all pitchers are measured. The answer lies in the information that the number implies about a pitcher. The average WHIP lies around 1.00 - 1.20 in the major leagues. What this means is that for every inning a pitcher throws, he only gives up one walk OR hit. The difference between hits and walks make up all other statistics that a pitcher is measured by. For example, to give up earned runs, a pitcher must first give up hits and/or walks before the runs are driven in. For a pitcher to strike out a batter, it means that he has neither give up a hit nor a walk (for that particular at bat). Taking this further, the WHIP is aimed a truly determining how affective, per inning, a pitcher can be. If a pitcher is able to keep this stat BELOW 1.00, it is safe to reason that 1 hit or walk or inning would result in a run and further. Of course, in 2009, this type of dominance is reserved for the likes of Mariano Rivera (.898 WHIP) Joe Nathan (.911) and Houston Street (.915)

So what does the 'Intelligent Pitcher' do with this type of knowledge. He understands that he must make every effort to MINIMIZE at all costs any efforts for the offense to string together any semblance of a rally. If they manage to get a hit, or you manage to give a walk, your focus must turn to preventing any further damage. (This goes back to the using your sinker to induce ground balls or you slider or other 'out-pitch' to get strikeouts as described in previous blogs) Certainly the outstanding numbers posted by some of the games best pitchers is not the norm. Let's be honest, Mariano is unbelievable. However, one must do all he can to stifle an offense with whatever weapons he has. If a pitcher is successful at this very basic point, then it begs to reason that all of his other numbers and statistics will look equally as good. Especially in the Wins and Saves Categories!

As always, post any comments and questions you may have and I will respond.


****I won't be able to post as often this next week because I am getting married Saturday and then going on my honeymoon. I'll be back on the blog as soon as I'm home****