If It Ain’t Broke
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The Hardball Times found this 5/1/2007 on www.hardballtimes.com (flag) |
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Comments (2)
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b +1Hamstring injury aside, I'd be curious to know if there was any noticeable difference/reversion in his mechanics in his 2nd ML start. -
Dick Mills Great discussion. Based on what Phil Hughes and his pitching coach believe about his mechanics it seems to me that he could easily be throwing another 5-7 mph. Hitting his balance point and staying back are two problems that are actually reducing his velocity.
If you look at Tim Lincecum it is clear there is no balance point in his delivery or trying to stay back...nor should there be since the idea of pitching should be to get away from the rubber as aggressively as possible under control. That is why Lincecum at 5'10", 170 lbs is able to pitch from 95-98 mph. He gains maximum momentum into a stride that is 123% of his height.
Fooling with a pitcher's arm position should be left up to the pitcher since the arm controls the ball.
I would want to see how Phil Hughes starts his delivery and what his stride length is as a % of his height since that will tell us about whether his creating maximum momentum or not. And with maximum momentum built early in the delivery, this usually produces a later hand break like Nolan Ryan.
Lincecum is a good example of how a pitcher will reduce mechanical problems when they move the body as fast as possible under control. Mechanical problems go away as you speed up the delivery in the direction of the plate...instead of trying to be more deliberate.
If Phil Hughes focuses on building maximum momentum into a long stride (by stepping straight back like Nolan Ryan) he will throw harder with better control and less stress. Nolan Ryan is certainly a good example of durability. As for arm slot, Nolan had a great curveball at a low 3/4 position. So much for getting on top of the ball with a higher arm position. The hand and fingers determine the direction of spin not the arm position.
I hope the Yankees are a lot smarter than the Giants...who wanted to change Tim Lincecum's mechanics but luckily his father stepped in and nixed that foolishness.
If coaches and instructors spent more time on helping pitchers build forward momentum into a long stride (Nolan Ryan and Koufax) and let the arms take care of themselves, we would see pitchers throwing much harder with better control (closer to the plate) and less stress since the body produces velocity...not the arm.
Dick Mills www.pitching.com/blog
Links (13)
Video breakdown of Phil’s mechanics
Published 5/1/2007 by Joseph P. at River Avenue Blues» River Avenue Blues, A New York Yankees Blog
... Excellent piece over at the Hardball Times today on the difference between Phil Hughes’s mechanics in his start against the Jays and a start from 2006.
THT Carlos Gomez On Phil Hughes
Published 5/1/2007 by Steve Lombardi at WasWatching.com
... This feature is a must-read for Yankees fans today. Gomez thinks that "it looks like he [Hughes] opens up too soon, and costs him velocity." That would explain
If it Ain’t Broke….A video review of Phil Hughes’ Mechanics
Published 5/1/2007 at Bullpen Mechanics
... Here’s the link to the article at The Hardball Times.
Breaking Down Hughes’ Delivery
Published 5/1/2007 by Geoff Young at Knuckle Curve - Baseball News
... New York Yankees uberprospect Philip Hughes made his big-league debut last week. It didn’t go so well, but that happens. What’s fascinating is this breakdown of Hughes’ delivery by Carlos Gomez at The Hardball Times (full disclosure: I contribute to THT).
Games of the Day
Published 5/1/2007 by StatsGuru at Baseball Musings
... , which may be a reason he's getting hit so often. Carlos Gomez breaks down the changes in Phil Hughes' delivery at the Hardball Times . With Hughes and the Yankees facing Kameron Loe in Texas, this could be the slugfest of the day. Lefties give Loe trouble, and the Yankees have plenty of those. Colon versus Greinke rounds out the evening. Bartolo's showing great control since his return from the DL, striking out twelve and walking just one in 14 innings. Grienke gets out lefties much better than righties. Given the number of switch hitters on the Angels, that might work to Zack's advantage. Enjoy!
Phil Hughes Article From THT
Published 5/1/2007 by EJ Fagan at Pending Pinstripes
... I’ve been super-busy lately, and I think that Kim has been busier. I apologize for the lack of content. Do not worry! It will come. In the meantime, Carlos Gomez of The Hardball Times just wrote a fantastic article about Hughes’ mechanics. It seems that they are a little bit off. I wouldn’t worry about it, because that was just one start, but it’s something to keep in the back of your mind.
When I looked up “irony” in the dictionary the other night, here is what I found….
Published 5/2/2007 by mgl (mgl8@cox.net) at THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball
... Carlos Gomez (Chad Bradford Wannabe) wrote an article in THT a few days ago, comparing Philip Hughes’ mechanics this year to last year. In it, he suggested that his mechanics were better last year than this year and implied that that may be the reason for this poor performance this year (in his first ever start in the majors and his first few starts in the minors).
Something Is Wrong With Philip Hughes
Published 8/27/2007 by EJ Fagan at Pending Pinstripes
... 2. Mechanics. Last May, before Phil’s injury, Carlos Gomez wrote a very informative piece on Hughes’ mechanics, and followed it up with ...
Bartender, Jobu Needs A RePhil
Published 9/25/2007 by yankeesZrider at Bronx Liaison
... , including his first and ...
Wannabe No More
Published 11/12/2007 by Jay at The Futility Infielder
... series on Baseball Think Factory. In those articles, he'd analyze a pitcher's delivery, illustrating it with short video clips, often in a side-by-side comparison to highlight something he was doing wrong or to compare the evolution of his delivery (he did a similar piece for The Hardball Times devoted to Philip Hughes that Yankee fans may have seen earlier this summer). In addition to being entertaining and informative, Gomez wrote with the goal of enticing some team to hire him as a scout based on his acumen. Finally, it's paid off: When he started to actively seek out ...
Has The Quest For A Curve Turned Phil Hughes Into A Flyball Pitcher?
Published 3/25/2008 by WW Staff at WasWatching.com
... out his first two starts of the season, it's closer to 0.84. This suggests that Hughes is a flyball pitcher - or, at least, he was last season.
How about in 2006? Well, according to this data, Hughes groundball to flyball ratio in 2006 was 1.42 (on the year).
So, what's going on here? Why would a pitcher who was a groundball guy in the minors turn into a flyball pitcher in the majors?
Was Carlos Gomez correct (?) back in May of last year, on Hughes, when he wrote:
[Hughes'] steeper shoulder tilt in '07 tells the story. You ...
Thoughts on Phil
Published 4/19/2008 by YankeeGM at Yankee GM Blog
... There have been more than one analysis of Phil's mechanics over the past year (one good one here) that show Phil has been employing a much lower arm angle through delivery which would not only costs him velocity, but also add right-to-left drift on his curveball. ...
This is Gerrit Cole
Published 7/11/2008 by noreply@blogger.com (Jason) at It is about the money, stupid
... So we have a pitcher with tremendous stuff but some questionable mechanics. How much should he change mechanically, if at all? That's up to the New York player development team and Cole himself. Every pitcher has a wind-up that works for him. You must also look at the reputation of the organization in terms of the success they've had in changing a pitcher's mechanics. With Joba, the Yankees did quite well; with Phil Hughes, not so much. ...
