The Honesty of Chris Carpenter

It would not be considered an understatement at all to claim that Chris Carpenter should almost definitely win the Cy Young award this season in the American League.
His numbers speak for themselves... 17 wins - 4 Losses, 2.24 ERA, 1.01 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched)144 k's and only 38 walks. It was amazing comeback story for a player who has been marred with injuries including 'tommy-john' surgery in 2007 and a shoulder sprain in 2008.

Unfortunately, Carpenter was not as sharp in the first game of the 2009 playoff series versus their rival LA Dodgers. The Cardinals' ace gave up 4 earned runs on 9 hits while walking 3 and only strikes out 4 in only 5 innings of work en route to a 5-3 loss to the boys in blue. The reason I felt this story was blog-worthy is not because of the fact that a stud pitcher finally did poorly. In fact, Carpenter, in his defeat, showed in his post-game interview just how well he understands pitching and as a result why he is so good most of the time. Here's a paraphrased version of what he said...

When asked essentially 'What went wrong?' Carpenter said

"I was battling myself all game long. I just couldn't stay out of the middle of the plate. They hit everything I threw there. When I tried to get away from the middle, I threw balls and missed off and fell behind hitters. When I tried to get back to edge of the plate, I missed over the middle. I was either right down the middle or out of the strike zone and that's not a good way to pitch."

When asked about the 2 run homerun he gave up to Matt Kemp. (Again paraphrasing)

"I threw a pitch that was up in the zone and he put a good swing on it. He should have hit it out."


What you can see here by his comments is that Carpenter is able to take responsibility for his successes and his struggles. He knows that no one, not even the best big leaguers in the game, is good enough to throw pitches in the middle of the zone and get away with it. (Keep in mind that Carpenter's fastball is in the mid-90's and even that was not enough). He also knew that he can't throw balls out of the strike-zone if he doesn't first establish himself in the zone. Carpenter did acknowledge that the Dodgers did a good job of not missing the mistakes he threw (giving credit where it was due) but when on to say the he was battling and struggling all day but was never able to find his rhythm. Again, this is key, the he realize that when he as at his peak performance, he not forcing pitches to go where they are supposed to go. Rather, when he is in a good rhythm he is able to relax and command his pitches in the zone and out of the zone when he wants.

Luckily for the Cardinals, Chris Carpenter has needed to explain why he didn't throw well very often if at all this season. Unfortunately, they did in the first game of the series and after tonites meltdown, they wasted the stellar performance from the their' ther ace, Adam Wainwright.

Here's hoping he gets another chance before the series ends.

The Effective Slider Effect

As "Intelligent Pitchers," we know that we must make all of our pitchers look like fastballs as the are released from our hand. We also know that the longer it take sa hitter to realize the pitch isn't a fastball, the less chance he has to hit that pitch. What is one of the toughest pitches to recognize, you ask? The answer is slider my friends. (Let me qualify this statement by saying the toughest pitch to hit by itself may well be a change-up, but I've chose slider here for its fastball-like qualities).

The reason the slider is so tough to hit is because its velocity difference is very similar to a fastball (usually 5 mph slower or less) and the trajectory is very similar to that of a fastball. In fact, the straighter a slider is until it gets to the plate, the better. A true slider will only move down and glove side about 6 to 9 inches and only a begin to 'slide' a few feet before the plate. Some of the best pitchers in the game today utilize their slider most frequently. Fan graph.com explains that in 2008 Armando Gallaraga used his slider 38% of the time, with Randy Johnson not far behind (35%) and Ervin Santana in third (33%). Of course, some of this is due to the type of pitcher they are and pitch selection. But it also shows just how valuable is the slider.

Visualize the slider from a hitter's perspective. A slider thrown by a right handed pitcher away to a righty will look like an outside fastball. Generally, a hitter will look to drive the fastball away and swing accordingly. As the hitter starts his swing, the slider darts down and away - usually resulting in a swing and miss. On the flip side, a slider thrown right at the batters hip will look like a fastball that will miss inside for a ball; only to have it break over the middle of the plate for a called strike (this is known as a backdoor slider).

So, how do we throw this mythical pitch? Well, like a fastball for about 90% of the delivery. The grip should be one with index and middle finger close together across the seams (see picture) and the mechanics and hand-speed should be identical to a fastball. With fingers on top of the ball as it gets to release point (as the arms passes by the head) you will turn "thumb to face" with the index and middle finger pointing down - similar to turning a knob on a door - as you release the ball. The harder the pitch is thrown, the straighter it will stay and less it will move (although this is generally the idea with the slider). The follow through is slightly across the body and down. Notice there is no "snapping" or turning of the wrist like many were taught in little league. When thrown correctly, the slider is a safe pitch to throw.

So there you have it. The slider in a nut shell. Please post any questions you may have and I will better explain one of the toughest pitches to hit in the game.

Big Leaguer Breakdown: Derek Lowe

With this week's installment of BLB, we'll examine Derek Lowe of the Atlanta Braves. As discussed in the last post, Dlowe is known for having one of the best groundball to flyball ratios thanks to one of the best sinkers in the game. With the big league regular season coming to a close, I decided to take a short road trip to a Nationals games in which Mr. Lowe was pitching for the Bravos. This was of course purely for research purposes and was in no way fun, beneficial, or awesome in any other way shape or form........

I took some video of Derek in the bullpen and then pitching from both the wind up and the stretch. They have now been arranged into this easily viewable youtube video for your educational benefits.

The first video is of Dlowe warming up for the game.

The second video is footage from the game itself.

What you may notice immediately from his warm up session as that Lowe is very fluid and rhythmic in his delivery. One of the key components of the "Intelligent Pitcher" is being a smooth as possible when delivering the baseball. Also, notice that his path to the plate is not exactly straight ahead. He does a great job of closing in his front side and uses his glove and front foot to sweep out and around to his landing point. After studying the mechanics of Lowe and other sinkerballers such as Webb (during my days in Spring Training with the Dbacks) you notice that most great sinkers ball pitchers do allow for some rotational movement in their bodies to create a slightly off center spin on the their pitches.

When we look ahead in the video to the in-game footage we notice some similarities between Derek and last weeks BLB, Josh Beckett. Both do a great job of loading up their elbows just before the front foot hits the ground and then use their hips to drive the ball to release point. Of course, Lowe doesn't throw quite as hard as Beckett, but I feel that this can be attributed to the fact that Lowe's delivery is more rotational (instead of driving straight to the plate).

My biggest complaint about Lowe's delivery is his finish. You'll notice in almost every throw he appears very wild after his front foot hits and the back leg swings around. His front leg is stiff and locked out and there is almost no bend in his back at release. This, in turn, will contribute to short-arming the ball and not consistently repeating his delivery, especially the release point. By focusing on being a bit softer on his landing and allowing for some bend in the front leg, I believe Derek would be able to finish his pitches better without sacrificing movement or velocity (in fact, he'd probably gain an MPH or two).

Make sure to study the two slow motion clips to really see where he benefits from being rotational and getting his elbows up. Also be aware of the stiff front leg and hap hazard finish. I hope this video helps, but don't get used to so much footage...its back to youtube for the next weeks BLB!

Let me know if you have any requests!!

Why are Groundballs So Important?

I've been reading recently about the significance of a pitcher's ability to induce groundballs. Most pitchers in the Major League's who feature an above average sinking fastball (think Brandon Webb, Derek Lowe, and Chien Ming Wang) are extremely valued for their ability to induce hitters into producing groundballs. During my days in the Arizona Diamondbacks' organization, they would even keep stat of every pitcher in the organization's ratio of groundballs to flyballs. But why exactly did they care and what exactly is good ratio anyways?

As mentioned in my last blog, the best pitchers in the game are able to get outs within the strike zone, and the groundball inducing sinker is one of the best ways to do that. Imagine how much easier it would be to get hitters out by simply throwing your fastball and letting hitters just beat it into the ground. Pitchers who are able to get hitters to swing early in the count and also hit groundballs (that generally result in outs) are usually able to keep their pitch counts lower and therefore, pitch much later into the game. Plus, to quote Bull Durham, "Don't try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic." By throwing groundballs, he means "get outs in the strikezone by throwing your sinker and letting them ground out!" (to paraphrase).

The second reason groundballs are important is because they can help save a pitcher's pitch-count by getting him out of innings with groundball double plays. A pitcher who produces a lot of groundballs is always 'one pitche away' from getting out of an inning even with the bases loaded and 1 out.

Thirdly, a pitcher who can keep the ball on the ground is much less likely to give up homeruns (especially when the bases are loaded). Of course, a sinker ball pitcher needs to keep the ball down in the zone to be effective. Even a sinker will get hit out of the yard if its up in a hitter's wheel house.

This isn't to say a groundball pitcher can't strike people out. On Fangraphs.com, Dave Campbell referenced a start by Brandon Webb in September 2005 where 26 of his 28 outs where either groundballs or strikeouts.

So what is a good ratio of groundballs to flyballs? Typically, the benchmark is 1 to 1. That is to say, for every groundball you induce you give up one fly ball. When the ratio begins to tilt towards more groundballs to flyballs (1.3 to 1 for example) that begins to look very favorable for the pitcher. A ratio of 2 to 1 would be Brandon Webb status. (Webb's actual ratio is 1.89 to 1, but you get the idea - Derek Lowe's almost as good at 1.75 to 1. On the contrary, Livan Hernandez only got groundballs 45% of the time for a ratio of about .85 to 1)

So there you have it - groundballs keep a pitchers pitch count down, get the pitcher out of jam, and prevents home runs. Now all you have to do is develop a sinker. (We'll talk about that in a new blog).

But not in the next post - Stay stuned for the next BIG LEAGUE BREAKDOWN - this one will feature Derek Lowe. Look for it this weekend.

Getting Outs IN the Strike-Zone

As a professional pitcher, I've spent countless hours working with Major League Pitching Coaches (Mel Stottelmyer Jr., Jeff Pico, Mike Parrot) who, despite having many varying philosophies on pitching agree on one thing: the best pitchers in the game are able to make quality pitches in the strike zone and still get hitters out. As a pitching instructor at Jim Farr's Baseball Academy in Williamsburg, VA (shameless plug) I've found that many young pitchers feel the only way to get hitters out is to somehow 'trick' that batter into swinging at pitches that are not in the zone.

Unfortunately, as hitters get older and better with strike-zone discipline, they become less and less likely to chase pitches that are not in the zone for very long. Aside from the occasional 'bad ball hitter' (think Pablo Sandoval or Vladimir Guerrero) most Big League hitters are trained to look for one pitch and one spot and not miss that pitch, fouling off or taking everything else. So somehow, the Intelligent Pitcher must find a way to get hitters to swing at pitches in the strike-zone and still miss-hit or whiff all together.

To win the battle versus hitters that have become more disciplined, the Intelligent Pitcher must make it impossible for the hitter to tell the difference between his straight fastball and any other pitch that he is throwing. He must repeat his delivery every time and release the ball from the same release point every time. This is especially important when switching from pitch to pitch. Whether you are throwing a fastball, change-up, curve, slider, or anything else for that matter, the most deceptive pitcher's arm speed must stay the same at all times and must release the ball in the same 'window.' To better visualize this, think about what a hitter sees when he's facing a pitcher. At release, the hitter is looking at one specific spot and tracks the ball all the way to the hitting zone. If he is unable to detect a different arm slot at release, he will be less likely to react correctly to the pitch.


Most hitters can't tell an RJ fastball from an RJ slider until its too late - notice the pictures (can u guess which is which)?


Also important is the path the pitch takes to the plate. It is necessary for most off-speed pitches to look like a fastball as long as possible, only deviating from that original path when it gets to the plate. The same reasoning applies here as before, the less time the hitter has to recognize that the pitch isn't a fastball, the less likely he will be able to put a good swing on the ball. For example, a good slider will look like a good inside fastball until it gets to the plate where it will dive down and in. A good change-up will look like a fastball away (usually) until it gets to plate where it will drop down or fade away from the hitter. Even a good sinking fastball will start up in the zone as if it were a good fastball to hit, only to "sink" at the last second. This is why most sinker ball pitchers are ground ball pitchers. Typically the hitter ends up making contact either on the end or handle of the bat - resulting in a weak grounder.

Big Leaguer Breakdown: Josh Beckett

Here it is, as promised. The first installment of "Big Leaguer Breakdown;" where we'll study a video of a big league pitcher's mechanics and identify the pros and cons of how this pitcher delivers the baseball and how they're successful. Today's subject is Josh Beckett of the Boston Red Sox. So, to pitch like Beckett, all you have to do is throw 96mphs and drop in a hammer curveball from time to time and you should be good! Thats all......


Heres the link to the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSP7iGVj0SY&feature=related

Ok, ok, so throwing like Beckett won't guarauntee 96 or a hammer, but there are a few things I love about his mechnics. This video has him warming up but the mechanics are spot on with his in game style. The main focus I want you guys to notice is the chain reaction from Beckett's hips and "elbows up" postion (I call this the 'power position') to the hip turn and finish. Pause the video around 4 seconds and notice how his hips are still closed (pointing at the catcher) but his elbows have "fired" up to the parallel position. He's gained momentum forward, but there is still weight on his back leg (which means there's still power in the hips). If you move forward just a few clicks (still at the 4 second mark) you'll see the hips have cleared (turned to face the plate) and the throwing arm has started its whip toward release point. Note the head is level and chin is leading to the target (another huge check point) and the glove has begun to turn in toward the chest. The thing that is most impressive about Beckett's delievery is exemplified by this part of the video. If you study most "power pitchers," the chain reaction between their elbows firing to parallel and the hips taking them to release point is nearly flawless. Beckett is no exception here.

The other point I want to look at in this video is at 21 seconds, where Beckett's leg lift has reached its highest point. The hand placement is perfect (inside the knee, close to his body) but you'll notice his momentum has alread started forward. Although Beckett's timing is usually pretty good, leaning forward too soon can cause a pitcher to rush his upper half...usually leading to elevated pitches and trouble all around. Earlier this year, Beckett ran into a stretch of tough starts and it was reported by his pitching coach that the plane of his pitches had 'flattened out' and he needed to regain the tilt on his pitches. The coach was talking about what is happening some here in this video. You can see Beckett start to leak forward on his second pitch, and as a result, his hips are a bit late and he would have to really really accelerate his upper half if were going to throw a strike on that pitch. The difference between the two pitches in this video is that in the first pitch, he does not rush forward nearly as much and therefore, has more power and 'weight' on his back leg when the hips and elbows begin to fire.

So there you have it - Beckett's delivery is the best example of hip turn/elbow's up power in the game today. He is very compact with his hand break and keeps his head on target at he gets to release. He does, however, leak forward some on his leg lift and drop a little too much on his back leg at times as he drives to the plate. Its important to know that the "Intelligent Pitcher" relies on his hip turn for power and keeps his elbows loose and parallel as they begin their turn following those hips!

Image Source: http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/mg0Qk1ndZzZ/Tampa+Bay+Rays+v+Boston+Red+Sox/0R0OppDuica/Josh+Beckett

The BP Fastball Explained

One of the trade marks of the "Intelligent Pitcher," is his ability to disrupt a hitter's timing by changing speed with his pitches. Most take this to mean using a change-up to slow down a hitter and get him on his front foot. Today, however, I am hear to discuss the benefits of being able to change speeds with your fastball alone. If given the chance, study a game pitched by Greg Maddux, Brandon Webb, or Tom Glavine, and notice the radar gun readings on their fastballs alone. Chances are, they will vary by as much as 8 mphs. Trust me, that is not just an accidental variation.

The Intelligent Pitcher will purposely throw his fastball slower at certain points in an at bat to entice a hitter to swing as if it were a regular fastball, usually resulting in a ground out or wiff! This is the BP Fastball, or "Batting Practice Fastball." The reason this pitch is so effective is because the hitter sees the same arm action as a regular fastball and the spin is also the exact same, thus leading to a swing. Since the pitch is thrown a few mph's slower though, he will be out in front. Obviously, a pitcher must establish his regular fastball atleast once or twice in an at bat or earlier in the game (to the same hitter) so that the hitter is fooled by the change of speed. Typically, if thrown correctly, the BP Fastball will have more sink and movement than the regular fastball. It is great for inducing groundballs with the movenment or pop ups from the velocity change.

Throwing the BP Fastball correctly actually takes more guts than anything, as it requires a lot of courage to throw a fastball that starts down the middle that you WANT a hitter to hit. The grip is essentially a regular 2-seam grip with your fingers spread slightly wider so that both fingers rest on top of or slightly outside of the seams. The pitcher must do his best to maintain as close to his regular arm-speed as possible but without the same finshish and whip. The key here is to use the glove and front side as aggressively as with the regular fastball. This movement is one of the first things a hitter senses and must be kept the same. The best times to throw this pitch are in fastball counts (not the first pitch of an at bat) where you want to get back ahead of the count (1-1, 1-0, 2-1, 3-1) when you are certain the hitter is going to swing if he gets his fastball.

So the next time you're in a jam and need to fool a hitter, even if you don't have command of your change up that day, spin a BP Fastball in there. Trust me on this one, because it truly is a gutsy pitch.

Leave a comment with any questions you may have and I'll be happy to explain further.

Stay tuned for the next blog for Less is More's first "Big Leaguer Breakdown" where I'll post a video of a major leaguer and discuss in detail the benefits and drawbacks of his mechanics!


Image Sources: http://z.about.com/d/baseball/1/0/F/9/-/-/twoseam2.jpg and http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/2008/writers/tom_verducci/12/06/maddux/greg-maddux..si.jpg