JimmyJuans

April 29th, 2013 at 3:11 PM ^

Not sure who I am more impressed by, Darvish or the guy who made this gif.

I'd be curious to see other pitcher's arm slots compared across their entire arsenal of pitches.

Moleskyn

April 29th, 2013 at 3:18 PM ^

That would be interesting.

This is kind of related, but I read an article about Trevor Bauer (former D'Backs prospect, now with the Indians) where he would set up a ring a few feet in front of himself to train himself to throw all of his pitches from the same slot. As a former college pitcher, I just don't know how these guys do it. I threw a fastball, change, and curve, and couldn't throw my curve from the same arm angle. I had a more 3/4's delivery with my fastball/change, but my curve was more over the top (it was a 12-6 variety).

JimmyJuans

April 29th, 2013 at 3:39 PM ^

Some pitchers just seem to depend on a consistent arm slot for deception more than others. Guys like JV probably don't need to as much. This has more to do with grip, but I remember when Kenny Rogers played for Detroit he would throw his 12-6 curve with his index finger pointing straight out in the air, but it didn't matter that it was a dead giveaway, guys still fanned on it.

Moleskyn

April 29th, 2013 at 3:14 PM ^

That's incredible. It's no wonder he's been so hard to hit. You basically have no idea what he's throwing until it's out of his hand. For something like a slider, you're screwed.

Sidenote: it's a little surprising he doesn't throw a changeup. Although what they chart as "Slider2" could actually be his changeup.

trueblueintexas

April 29th, 2013 at 3:16 PM ^

Yeah, but which one was Pujols swinging at?

/s

 

Very cool gif. I would love to see this done for other top pitchers to see how different their motions and release points are.

Go.Blue.Hail

April 29th, 2013 at 8:30 PM ^

I think he'll win the Cy Young this year. He's racking in the K's and dominating lineups all game long. Not just the first couple times through the order.