TheCrew07

Throwing the ball over the top isn't indicative of more stress on the elbow, that's a myth that's been perpetuated for some time, even Bill was yapping about it during some broadcasts last year. It the same as the "screwball wrecks pitchers arms" myth that's been around since before I was born. Why is it a myth? Because every QB in football throws a screwball on every single throw, and a football is much heavier which would put greater stress on the arm, and yet how many QBs ever need TJ surgery? The truth is that the farther the arm gets away from the 12 o'clock position the more the muscles have to compensate and adjust for left to right accuracy. The other day I was talking about pitchers who fall off hard towards first base having the momentum of their torso, shoulder, and elbow all working in different planes... In addition to being difficult to repeat and harder to control the ball that type of delivery creates unnecessary stress on both the shoulder and the elbow because nothing in the body is working together. Similarly pitchers that wheel the ball down to 6 o'clock as they start their pitching motion create unnecessary stress because the wheel effect of going from 6 to 9 to 12 gets the arm out of sync with the torso causing the pitcher to "drag" their arm behind the rest of their body (the dreaded inverted W). The 3/4 arm slot provides the best 2 plane movement, but it's also the hardest to control and hardest on the joints. Stay with me here: Think of the best shooters in basketball, they all start by bringing their shooting arm to near the midpoint of their body, the shooting arm aligned vertically elbow to wrist, then in one smooth motion they extend and follow through finishing the motion by flipping wrist and fingers and downward at the basket (I'm leaving the lower half out). This shooting motion virtually eliminates any horizontal adjustments the muscles need to make and allows the shooter to focus purely on up/down (arc) and distance. Players that bring the ball over the top of their head, leave the ball out to one side of their body, leave their shooting elbow out to a side at a 45 degree angle, or flip their wrist/fingers to a side when finishing the follow through (or any combination there of) not only increase the degree of difficultly by adding the horizontal element back into the shot, but likely are putting poor rotation on the ball as well which makes it less likely to catch the rim and find it's way into the basket. The best basketball shot is a mechanically simple and easy to repeat, much like the best pitching motion. The problem with many pitchers and a high arm slot is that they don't finish through properly which leads to them "banging the joint" for a lack of a better term... (for those of you that have done P90x yes I just used a Tony Horton line and feel dirty) ...like a Karate chop motion that abruptly halts. Pitching from a 3/4 arm slot it's just natural that the arm flows down and across your midline to the other side or you body so there isn't much if any unnecessary stress placed on the arm at the end of the pitching motion. The follow through is just as important as the rest of the pitching motion not only because done improperly it adds unnecessary stress on the elbow, but also because that's where spin is applied to the ball. Last I heard about this studies had shown that the average MLB fastball only makes a little more than 2 full revolutions before reaching home plate (I would have guessed a much higher number) Each extra 1/4 turn of the ball adds so many inches of movement, and likewise coming under that number reduces movement, which is why it is so easy to hang a pitch. I don't remember the exact numbers because this was a conversation over beer with a former MLB pitcher some years ago, his organization had brought in some physics professor to explain the mechanics of the ball in flight to their pitchers, fascinating stuff... Anyway the quick version is that the more revolutions you get before it reaches home plate, the better movement you will get, the pitchers with the best movement only approach 3 full revolutions. I don't have a good reason why there is no consensus on baseball pitching mechanics, unlike QB mechanics in football which are very well defined, though they should be essentially the same with some major differences in the start and finish. There are some things that everyone agrees stink, but for the most part there is no consensus on what's best. I would guess it comes down to trying to get the best movement possible and the fact that it's easier to get 2 plane break for your pitches from that 3/4 arm slot. Speaking from personal experience, for most of my life I had arm problems and I learned to throw and pitch from a 3/4 arm slot. My dad played college baseball at 3B and he taught us how to throw the way infielders throw working to get the ball moving towards 1B as quick as possible. I starting coaching QBs in 1999, became interesting in throwing mechanics by 2001, started studying pitching mechanics/training in 2003 when I found Brewerfan, and by 2009-2010 I was throwing pain free for the first time in my life. Every time I threw with my QBs, receivers, or played catch with my pitchers (who also were my QBs) I worked on the start of my motion, moving my arm slot higher, and the follow through. Not only was I pain free for the first time in my life, my accuracy was spot on, and the rotation on my ball regardless of type was much better. I talked about this stuff quite a bit on the minor league forum, stealing concepts from both sides, like for example making my QBs throw long toss with a football to build arm strength which is an idea stolen directly from building pitching arm strength. Every QB I've worked with was pretty much in the same situation I was because as I said most were also pitchers on the baseball team, throwing from a 3/4 arm slot, with tendonitis pain in the elbow most of football and baseball season. However by the time they were seniors most of those kids were throwing pain free (with 1 notable exception). There are still workload concerns, throwing properly doesn't eliminate abuse issues, but I do know that moving to a higher arm slot and getting the body, shoulder, elbow, and wrist all working in one plane towards the target with a smooth follow through increases velocity and accuracy while eliminating unnecessary stress on the shoulder and elbow. Recently I've started working with the pitchers (I don't have time to coach 2 sports full time) and have witnessed similar improvements, though for whatever reason the same kids aren't as coachable on the baseball side. I can't tell you the number of times I've witnessed kids whom were extremely coachable in football resist coaching in baseball, "but coach that's how I've always hit" or "but coach that's how I've always thrown" and it doesn't matter how bad the results are, for some reason kids are much more resistant to any change when it comes to baseball. A couple of years ago there was even a parent yelling to his kid on the mound, "Just do the opposite of what they are telling you to do!" as his son was throwing like 55 MPH and walking the bases loaded in game 2 of a double header. Unfortunately the coaches were out of pitchers because of 2 doubleheaders earlier in the week and a game the day before (plus HS kids in WI have a weekly inning limit) so they couldn't make a change but it was easily my most embarrassing moment as a spectator at a baseball game, and sadly there are more stories like that. I wish had video to post, I could blur out the face to show how horrible his mechanics were, but that was the way his dad and had taught him to pitch so that's how he was going to throw come hell or high water.

BA takes a different angle on Taillon's performance thus far and some interesting info on MiLB line-up construction at the beginning. Note that the Brewers don't always operate line-up construction in the same manner, but if anyone was wondering why I was hoping McFarland and Reed would move up in the order at WI the answer was simple, legit prospects typically don't bat at the bottom of the order. Prospect Notebook: Carlos Triunfel Hits For The Cycle

I was thinking the same thing... lately when I think of Lohse I think of him in the same way that Seinfeld said "Newman!". While Lohse has been great thus far, from an organizational standpoint I felt this season was a crossroads of sorts, and I really hate losing that first round pick given the state of the system.

I appreciate the "off days" I'm getting but I despise double headers from a development standpoint, this weather is starting to get under my skin in a big way.

Mock Draft Version 1

Another Pirates' prospect, player stats linked in the article Marauders' Kingham finds his form

Taillon continues his ascension... Taillon embraces morning start in win

Discusses Taveras' all around game and coachability, also some information on Kolten Wong. Taveras hits first Triple-A homer

only possibility for Brewer prospects would be the PCL All-Star game. Five Minor League Games To Be Televised By MLB Network

Draft Tracker: Three High School Players With Helium

Draft Chat With Conor Glassey

I would suggest that you read up sports psychology if you really believe that to be true. The only difference between players of similar natural ability performing or not is whatever is going on in their head and baseball is tough to deal with, it's the only sport where everyone fails a constant rate. The difference between a great hitter offensive player and poor offensive player is only .1... 10%, think about how talented/good all professional baseball players in the majors or not really are. That's true of every professional league, sooner or later everyone has to perform. Baseball is unique in that there's very little coaching available and a very small tolerance of poor performance. Look at the difference in Alcides Escobar from year to year... that year with Macha every time he went 0-10 he was sat on the bench, very few young players are going ascend or maintain performance if they constantly worried about being removed from the game or being sat on the bench. It doesn't matter what level of sport or the game being played, that's not how you develop players. I think it goes both ways, bringing a player up when you know he's not ready can permanently ruin his confidence just as bouncing a guy between AAA and MLB does. At some point you need to give a player an opportunity to sink or swim, but it needs to be extended chance, not 2 games here and 1 game there. It's an entirely different mindset when you go to the plate thinking that if you go 0-fer you're going to end up on the bench or you are the mound thinking that if you give up 3 runs you are going to the bullpen. As I said, you don't ever want players looking back over their shoulder worrying about what the coach is going to do, they should be focused on what the opposition is doing. Of course every player is different and will respond differently which is exactly why your "perform or go home" theory on player development doesn't work very well and why no other league but baseball has such a trial by fire nature. It's just not that simple. You can think it's apples and oranges but it's not, the only difference is that people were willing to concede the season was over when Segura came up. Guys who've come up and struggled a bit at the beginning of the year always get the same treatment... hasn't mattered if it was Hardy, Gamel, or Peralta... if they don't hit the ground running like Braun they aren't ready and need to go back down, which is garbage. There's only so much players can learn in the minors and AAA, once they've solved each level they really aren't going to get any better need a new challenge. Spending 1 year or 3 in AAA, it doesn't matter, they have to solve the next jump, that big jump to MLB to continue to ascend as a player. Sports are as much mental as they are physical. I could spend all day talking about the differences between "throwing" and "aiming" or "hitting the pitch thrown" vs "guessing at the pitch" but I honestly don't have the time right now. Those are mental issues that manifest themselves physically and cause poor performance. The harder a pitcher tries to throw strikes or "aim" the ball to the catcher the more velocity/rotation they will lose and the worse their location will be. It can be a hard concept to understand unless you've been on the mound or in the batters box and have been in that situation. "For the love of the Game" was a pretty cheesy movie but they had one part right, athletes that perform the best don't hear anything or see anything that doesn't matter, they don't hear the crowd, the entire focus is just the bat, the ball, and the glove and everything seems to happen in slow motion. When you get to that relaxed and focused state the game slows down, it doesn't matter what game, it's the same in football or basketball as it is in baseball. If you aren't able to find that place then you aren't going to have much success regardless of sport or level.

Locking up players to long-term extensions prior to arby is really the only way small market clubs can guarantee they will control the player for 8+ years. The sooner you do it, the larger discount you get. Waiting until arbitration you don't save yourself any risk and in fact may end up paying more per year in addition to still assuming all of the risk once the contract is signed. James Shields' contract that TB signed him to is my ideal contract for pre-arby players, 3 option years and total contract length of 7-8 years assuming they've accrued a year or 2 of service time seems ideal. The idea should be to wrap up our time with a player early in their mid 30s and move on either by trading the player or letting him walk in FA. Who's going to say no to Shields at 9 mil for this year or 12 for next year? That's still below market rate for a 31 year old pitcher this season and a 32 year old pitcher next season. When was the last time we had any player in their 30s signed below market rates? Just look at the total $ value below... 38 million for 7 years of his deal, we're spending 33 million for 3 of Lohse. We need to buy as many wins at a discounted rate as possible. The more money we spend near, at, or greater than market value, the less total wins we can buy. That's why these early extensions are so important, of course it stinks that the team has to assume all the risk but these contracts are really the only hole in the system that allow small market teams to lock-up their own star players and retain their rights more than 6-7 years depending on when they were called up. James Shields rhp 4 years/$11.25M (2008-11), plus 2012-14 club options 4 years/$11.25M (2008-11), plus 2012-14 club options signed extension with Tampa Bay 1/23/08 08:$1M, 09:$1.5M, 10:$2.5M, 11:$4.25M, 12:$7M club option ($2M buyout), 13:$9M club option ($1.5M buyout), 14:$12M club option ($1M buyout) value of 2012-14 club options may increase package to $38M performance bonuses based on innings pitched, starts, and Cy Young voting may increase package to $44M assignment bonus of $0.75M if traded Tampa Bay exercised $7M option for 2012 10/31/11 2012 salary increased by $0.5M to $7.5M with top 5 finish in 2011 Cy Young vote 2013 option increased by $1.25M to $10.25M with escalators 2014 option increased to about $13.5M with escalators Tampa Bay exercised 2013 option at $10.25M 10/30/12 acquired by Kansas City in trade from Tampa Bay 12/9/12 The simple math here should really speak for itself. Assuming Segura continues to get better as a SS and keeps hitting you absolutely look to lock him up long-term this off season. If a young SS like Arcia pans out then the team has a very good problem like TX has with Andrus and Profar. Segura would have a very reasonable contract and multiple years of team control left which would be very attractive on the trade market, or one of the players could move to 2B, or trade package could be built around Arcia... My philosophy on this stuff is very simple, I want to buy as many wins as possible as far below market rate as possible and I want the Brewers to have as much flexibility of talent as possible. Not to mention all of the fringe benefits like cost certainty which make budgeting much easier and no possibility of arbitration hearings.

Absolutely. Wisconsin is #1 in the nation in binge drinking. There are people who do it everywhere, but it is much more rare to see people drinking 7-8+ drinks elsewhere compared with Wisconsin. We're clearly outnumbered in this thread. It's not really that different than obesity or other epidemic health problems. Lots of people live with it and function despite of it, but it certainly isn't good for them! These 2 posts together is an excellent summation of how I feel on the matter.

Why should anyone get less than a month of MLB starts to prove their worth? My goodness you can pick any MLB pitcher and they will string together 2 or 3 bad starts in a row multiple times during the season. I really struggle with the rush to judgement and lack of patience many posters here have always displayed towards first year players. Look at Segura last year... it took about 5 weeks and then he started to put it together. The difference is that he got to play every day and build confidence... that's the way we should handle every young player. Give them the rope to fail, learn from their mistakes, improve, and gain confidence. If you're looking to pull another Gallardo out of the minors, a guy who pretty much hits the ground running (and he wasn't lights out that first year) then you're going to be disappointed, we don't have that kind of pitching prospect in our system. We have a bunch of control guys without great stuff and bunch of big arms that need more control/pitchability. That's the just the way it is.

The last thing you want to do with young players is get them looking over their shoulders putting extra pressure on themselves to perform... "a bad outing or 2 and back to the minors for you!" If the player is fixated on "not failing" they are really fixated on "failure" and that's exactly what they will get or do... that's just basic sports psychology and the primary reason I never tell anyone "not" to do something. Like the fielder running down a ball thinking "I'd better not drop this" and what happens? They drop the ball. It's the same for receivers in football or someone shooting a layup in basketball... if you think about not screwing up, you screw up. Ups and downs are to be expected with young players, building their confidence is the single most important part of success and that just requires patience. It's somewhat odd that in a game based primarily around failure that there is so little patience to let players develop, maybe the trial by fire nature of baseball is the reason so many prospects flame out? The league caught up with Fiers, I still believe he can be a good reliever or back of the rotation guy. I'd like for Hiram to get a shot, but stuff wise he's not much different than the player he'd be replacing. Fiers was never the pitcher that people were trying to make him out to be last year, but he can still have a successful career.

Gerrit Cole discussed here as well. Wednesday Prospect Notebook

I agree with J.J. Cooper, no doubt tomorrow's likely Cingrani vs Fernandez pitching match-up is a must-see for prospect watchers. Subscriber piece as all call-up articles are. The Call-Up: What To Expect From The Reds’ Tony Cingrani

Rams and I had a quick discussion about 18 year old players in A ball earlier this season, this subscriber piece discusses the 2 17 year olds playing in full season ball now in the SAL. Mondesi is a Royals prospect and Tocci is from the Phillies, player links included in the article. Adalberto Mondesi, Carlos Tocci Reaching Full-Season Ball Ahead Of Schedule

I figured this would draw some interest around here Draft Focus: Dylan Covey

College Stock Report: Week Nine

Subscriber piece on the Rays and cycling talent. I would agree that the Rays have quite a bit riding on Myers but I would nit pick and argue that Montgomery and Odorizzi are just as important to the Rays future as Archer, an interesting article none the less. Rays Have A Lot Riding On Prospect Duo At Triple-A Durham

This Allie stuff is becoming like the Taveras overload from early last season. Allie continues award-winning start

Gerrit Cole sure has been getting quite a bit of run to start this season. Cole earns first Triple-A win of 2013 This irked me some: 86 pitches? So what? He's in AAA for goodness sake...

Thanks for the correction on Arcia's flyout to Buxton, Chris had an awkward call on that one. The 99 MPH pitch came on an 0-2 or 1-2 count in the 3rd or 4th inning, the pitch ended up being a ball. I didn't record who the batter was but it was right after tuned in to the game. The Walker HR was the first call I heard, it wasn't that pitch but it was in that same time frame. As TLB said thanks for the hands on scouting report!