Pitcher Profile: Felix Hernandez (Part Two) - 美國職棒

http://www.drivelinemechanics.com/2009/1/15/724844/pitcher-profile-felix-hern

Part One of our Pitcher Profile on Felix Hernandez talked about his
statistical prowess and a cursory look into his PITCHf/x data from the 2008
season.

In this post we'll discuss his pitching mechanics and project how he'll hold
up in the long run for the Seattle Mariners.

The Mariners are big proponents of "Tall and Fall" mechanics and have
publicly told Felix to "gather himself over the rubber" to find his
"balance point."

[Felix] Hernandez and pitching coach Rafael Chaves have studied tapes of
those two dominant games in April and compared them with the recent
struggles. They think he has been rushing through his delivery.

"We want maybe a little bit of hesitation at the balance point instead of
rushing through it," Chaves said. "Get to the balance point, spend a little
bit of time in it, then explode from there."

No offense, but this advice is pretty dumb (specifically the bolded part).
I'll explain after the cut...



Detroit's pitching coaches told Justin Verlander the same thing when his
velocity was dropping from the usual 97-99 mph to 91-92 mph, and - Voila! -
it jumped back up. Does this cue actually mean anything? Well, you tell me -
does this guy "get to the balance point?"

How about this guy? (Credit: Chris O'Leary)

What you see with the best pitchers is "drifting" through the balance point,
not "stopping" in the balance point. This cue is really misleading and quite
annoying.

Anyway, moving on...

Tempo: Unfortunately you can see this "gathering" at the balance point in
Felix Hernandez, just like the Mariners want. I'd prefer to see him drift
through the balance point (like Lincecum) and take advantage of gravity to
get into footplant, since it's a lot less work for him to do. Still, Felix is
21-22 frames from maximal leg lift to footplant, which is just slightly Below
Average. (We want to be < 20 frames.)

Arm Action: Though there is evidence of "scapular loading," it's not the same
as Homer Bailey. There is no evidence of Hyperabduction, and Felix seems to
passively allow his arm to enter horizontal shoulder abduction with the elbow
as he breaks his arms in a pendulum swing motion. Take a look at Homer Bailey
and compare it to Felix above:

Can you see the differences? Here's a closer look:

As you can plainly see, Homer Bailey "throws" his arm behind himself in
reverse rotation and abducts it very forcefully - Felix does not.

Felix also has better timing, though it's somewhat borderline - his arm is
not fully vertical at the point his shoulders begin to turn, which will lead
to higher loads on his UCL and his shoulder.

Still, overall I see a lot of positives. Above Average.

Ball Release: I love Felix's release of his fastball - very forceful with a
high arm slot. You can see him forcefully pronate through release on this
pitch as well, which explains the insane horizontal movement he gets on his
two-seam fastball. There is no arm recoil and he sticks his pitching-arm
shoulder into the target. Excellent.

Followthrough: People tend to make a big fuss about Felix's headjerk, but
ASMI's initial studies of head jerks in pitchers indicate that they have no
correlation with poor control. This makes complete sense, because throwing a
baseball is a very proprioceptive action, and staring at the target at
release isn't likely to help you with your control - everything leading up to
the release is what matters. It's the same with hitting - the best hitters
don't see the bat from launch to contact. We know that seeing the barrel hit
the ball is impossible (Dr. Robert K. Adair proved it in the Physics of
Baseball), but it's important to note that the best hitters hit behind the
baseball and don't even bother to try to see the barrel all the way in.
Proof? You got it.

Felix has a great followthrough phase - he uses the glove arm exceptionally
well, finishing up near the shoulder and firming up through release. His body
continues to turn, there is no recoil, and he does not stop the momentum with
active braking of his arm. Excellent.

Though I have reservations about the amount of horizontal shoulder abduction
in Felix's delivery, overall I have to give him a very high grade for both
his performance and his durability. I think that with proper conditioning and
reasonable use of his arm in games that Felix has a good chance of having a
long career in the majors without many injuries.

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