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I threw a simulated game to some of my teammates today, and it felt really good. After changing just one or two things about my delivery, I feel more in control than ever. Though my velocity is still low, I attribute some of that to the recoil cycles of training with wrist weights and weighted balls, as well as being in the gym and focusing on heavy lifting. As of next week, I will be stopping the heavy-duty training on my arm and letting it recover to pitch in the regular season.

Against the batters, my changeup had great fade and worked very well, even against right-handed hitters. I still can’t throw a curve ball with any consistency; I really need to throw to some of my high school players when teaching them the pronation curve. I have the grip correct, I just cannot consistently release it on top and get around it far too often. Fortunately, my gyroball remains consistent enough to use against right-handed hitters, featuring decent enough lateral break if I throw it slowly enough. I will probably use a sequence of fastball-change-gyroball vs. righties and fastball-sinker-change vs. lefties. Of course, that means I actually have to master throwing the maxline sinker, but it’s an easy enough pitch to learn.

Not long ago, I was able to throw the pronation slider quite effectively, but only from the Marshall theoretical windup. It’s much tougher to throw his pitches without the body motion, but now that I have eliminated much of the forearm flyout and late turnover in my delivery, I should probably revisit both the slider and curve.

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Tryouts went well today for Jacob, Jensen, Vinny, and I. Though everyone but Vinny is signed to a team, he sure did look good in the field from what I saw. He said his BP sessions didn’t go so well, but he had a top three arm in his age division, and looked pretty smooth in the infield, which isn’t his natural position!

I threw a bit on the side today, but didn’t feel 100%, so I cut it short after about 20 pitches. The changeup is better than ever, featuring good arm-side fade, but my breaking ball is maddeningly inconsistent. I’m going to work on it tomorrow with Jacob almost exclusively. I took a few balls at third and second base, and booted my fair share of them; everyone else wasn’t too sharp either, so I should get a pass for now. I looked good in the cages, though, which made my manager pretty happy. I put in a ton of work in the offseason on hitting, and the dividends are finally paying off.

Our team (Mustangs) should be pretty good this year, assuming Jacob and I can go back to back starts and throw a ton of innings. What the team needs desperately is league-average quality pitching, and a lot of it, which is why they signed the two of us. Since we’ve been working out for months - throwing long toss, using wrist weights, SPRI bands, full bullpen work, mechanics analysis - we’re at the stage right now where we can throw 7 innings easily as long as we’re getting guys out at a reasonable rate. Our teammates are very impressed with our work ethic; like I said before, we’re going to hit the cages or the field tomorrow to get even more work in.

It’s good to have workout partners that are as dedicated to the game as I am; without them, I wouldn’t be able to motivate myself to hit the gym every other day and to really step up my game. It stems from the fact that none of us are naturally gifted athletes, and that we all need to work extra hard to put us at the level of an average player in these divisions. Without hard work and sacrifice, we are nothing - so it is born out of necessity.

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Training

Jacob, Vinny, and I have been training extensively for the past few months. Vinny has transformed from a slow-pitch softball hitter into a power hitting outfielder, and though his tools are still raw, he can certainly put a charge in any fastball left middle-in and down (his favorite spot). Jacob has been training harder than ever since he switched into a job with much less stress and more steady hours, and I have been taking my diet and exercise plan a lot more seriously over the past two weeks. All of the work I have done on swing training through tee work, soft toss, and video analysis (with the aid of Dr. Chris Yeager’s materials) has finally paid off, IMO. I have learned valuable cues (keeping the hands with the shoulders and turning them together; pushing against the ground with a strong front leg block) and I have turned my line drive swing into a classic power stroke.

Today Vinny and I dialed up the two-wheel JUGS machine (something I used to hate) and hit a bunch of fastballs and some sick late-breaking curveballs outs of it. I crushed a ton of pitches after I made the adjustments in my swing that need to be there (again, hands high, a more athletic stance, a better strong block of linear momentum), and I feel that I am 90% of the way to the ideal swing for me.

Free Agent Signing

Both Jacob and I (along with Jensen) were signed before tryouts to play for the Adams division of PSSBL, an intermediate level of competition. They signed us on the strength of our ability to go 7 IP, a testament to the endurance training Jacob and I have followed for months. Both Jacob and I turned in a good tryouts on the mound. My fastball command was better than it ever has been, my changeup was still great, but my breaking (Maxline pronation curve) ball was erratic and inconsistent. There were times when it looked great, and times when it stayed flat, or worse, was way above the catcher’s head. I attribute my failures with the pitch mostly due to inexperience, and I hope to throw a bunch of them tomorrow and over the weekend during individual and team tryouts.

Coaching

Coaching Roosevelt HS Freshmen has been a wonderful experience. Not only am I staying with a lot of the kids from Northeast Seattle Little League, but the team of 18 kids that we have are extremely talented and well-mannered. We have a lot of pitching on the team (some of which will invariably be called up to JV, unfortunately), and the defense is top-notch. We even have a real catcher with his own gear, a good pop time, and a live arm. Our lineup is pretty damn good, featuring a switch hitter and several lefties. I think we’ll compete for first place in the division very easily, depending on the number of kids called up to JV.

Individual coaching of Vinny has also been great! His work ethic matches my own, and he went from being unable to make contact on 20 straight side soft tossed balls to being able to shell Jacob and I from a mound on any given day. I have mostly imparted the wisdom of Chris Yeager on him, but video analysis of my own has proved to help him as well - another testament to the idea that learning by seeing ourselves on video is one of the best (and most underused) tools in baseball today.

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I woke up early today and got in a kickass workout session with Jacob that lasted all day.

10:30 AM - Swimming laps until our lungs were on fire (didn’t take me long, I’m out of shape!)
11:15 AM - Sat in the hot tub, felt good on my sore legs from the previous day’s workout
11:30 AM - Taught Jacob how to do one-arm DB snatches and high pulls; in return, he showed me medball toss on a decline bench. Tons of reps of all the aforementioned exercises, plus static stretching.

After that, we went to Paseo Caribbean Grill (where Jacob had never been) and enjoyed a Midnight Cuban Press and a Chicken Breast sandwich. Can’t believe that place has been closed for over 2 months. So good to have it back!

Two hours rest time, then it’s time to hit the batting cages at Arena Sports. Both Jacob and I had arms that felt really good, and his curve has turned into something nasty. It now has a lot of overspin, comes in waist-high, then just falls off the table. It looks way different than his previous curve - which was good! - and should be infinitely more effective. He seems to retain his original get-me-over variant as well for weak contact and first pitch strikes, so with that curve ball package, his very consistent slider with excellent lateral break, all he has to do is figure out how he’s getting his arm-side run with his two-seam fastball. Once he pieces it all together, he’ll have three absolutely dangerous weapons to attack the zone with.

My arm felt really good, and I threw a bunch before the mitigating circumstances forced us off the mound and into another cage, but from what I was doing, my fastball was popping a bit more than usual (both torque and maxline variants), and I was experimenting with a high arm slot that seemed to work fairly well. Hopefully I can replicate this with a friend on Thursday, or maybe even Jacob later today. My pronation slider is developing at a fast rate; I saw it slash through the zone with excellent depth and decent lateral break. Starting the pitches from a supinated grip has helped me with all of my pitches: I get better and more consistent releases with my fastball with some sink to it, I get a lot of sink on my change, and I have been getting a ton of spin on my slider as a result of going from supinated to pronated. Marshall was right there, that’s for damn sure.

As far as our velocities, I’m not sure where we’re at. I don’t want to measure it because we both have major flaws that we know of, and we want to get those under control before we release video to the YouTube public (they sure do love Dick Mills there, don’t they?) and to this blog. My biggest flaw is my timing right before, at, and right after footstrike. I need to keep my shoulders closed while firing the hips, so I can preserve the idea of rotating body segments which will deliver the power through my body, across my acromial line, and through my arm.

If I had to hazard a guess on what Jake’s major flaw is, I’d say it would be the fact that he pauses a bit too long at max leg lift. Like Carlos Gomez of Hardball Times, I prefer to see drifting into footplant, rather than sitting over the rubber. This helps generate momentum down the hill, which adds to velocity and cuts out time for mechanical errors. I’m sure he has his own view on it, though, and hope he posts about it.

Time to get some sleep. Early start tomorrow (10 AM is early for me) - running, stretching, prepping some clean food, maybe throwing some with Jake, and then I have Roosevelt High School baseball meetings at 5:45 PM.

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I hit and threw today with Jacob at Arena Sports, where we got about an hour’s worth of work in. We focused mainly on dead-arm soft toss for hitting and threw from the mound a bit after working with the wrist weights. Both Jacob and I noticed better spin axes on our pitches after working with Marshall’s plans, but we both lost consistency with our breaking pitches (his curve, my gyroball). That being said, Jacob’s slider is getting much, much better - he is getting excellent tilt and depth to it, and he threw his best one ever (in my opinion) today. Great lateral break and excellent depth.

After incorporating some of Marshall’s theories on pitching (pendulum swing, loaded slingshot position), I have noticed an increase in velocity when throwing from the traditional motion. I have started to combine the theories of Mills and Marshall to increase the stretch reflex in my lower half while simultaneously driving the ball with early supination and late pronation. The results feel good right now, I will say that much, but I need to start doing more push-ups and conditioning of my arm to maintain shoulder integrity throughout the season. My lightweight SPRI bands were chewed up by my cats, and I’m stuck with only a heavy band. What I need is multiple reps with light weights and varying degrees of resistance to build endurance in my arm.

One thing I am working very hard on to improve my control is the combination of pointing the acromial line (shoulder plane) towards the target and getting the feeling of “sprinting” down the mound; both of these cues are Marshall-esque in nature.

As for hitting, I am crushing soft toss but having a few problems with overhand toss at lower speeds (60 mph). My timing is poor; my front foot is blocking late and as a result, I’m letting outside strikes go by and getting jammed inside unnecessarily. It’s time to hit the video and watch Yeager’s DVDs again to help fix that problem!

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I threw a partial side session on Sunday, as I’m gearing up for the 2008 season. I feel as though I’ve gained a few mph on my pitches (and the location is getting better), but after reviewing the video, my biggest flaw is still there (albeit less seriously as before, it is still present). At footstrike on a fastball release, my glove arm is tightening up (good) but before my hips rotate (very bad). Since my torso more or less rotates with my legs, this is robbing me of significant velocity and will only increase the load on my shoulder/arm. This is something I have finally identified as my major flaw, and I think I know how to fix it.

See on the left how Lincecum extends his glove arm away from his body? This helps to keep his shoulder closed at footstrike and achieve a powerful position:

I would like to get a picture of me up there, but for some reason I can’t Print Screen from Windows Media Player, even when I turn hardware acceleration off. I’ll figure it out soon.

Tomorrow Jacob and I are going to the American Baseball Institute at 9 AM to get some work in, tour the facility, meet the coaches, and check out some prospects who are getting evaluated by Cubs and Phillies scouts. Should be a good time!

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I threw a great side session today with Jacob. My arm felt great, the fastball was popping, and though I was missing high/inside a bunch, I think I unlocked a few more minor things with my mechanics. The gyroball felt great and had good movement on it, as did my fastballs - I’ve been consciously trying to pronate more to both protect my elbow and to produce sinking/boring action. It seems to be working well.

Looking forward, I’m not sure what my role is going to be on my next team - I want to pitch, but moving up to the Baker division (soon to be renamed) will mean tougher competition and no restriction on innings pitched per game. Though I think I have the endurance and makeup to go as a starter, it has yet to be determined whether or not my shoulder is going to hold up if I take the ball every fifth day. Another concern of mine is that I only have two pitches I feel comfortable with - my two-seam gyroball and my four-seam fastball. Though my circle change is a plus pitch when it’s on, I have significant trouble locating it and keeping my arm action similar to my fastball. If I stick to middle relief, all I’ll need is two pitches, but if I go as a starter/long reliever, I’ll need an offspeed pitch for help on the second time through the lineup.

We’ll see; going forward I will be preparing as a starter (as will Jacob, who looked good on the mound today - throwing pain-free!) and see what the next team offers in the way of pitching.

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Here’s a still frame from live batting practice in a cage:

There’s a lot of ugly stuff going on in the video I took, so I don’t want to totally embarrass myself, but this is a major problem in my swing. It’s called “bat drag,” and it occurs when the swing gets too long or when the elbows get out in front of the bat. The malfunction in the swing is caused by torquing the hands/arms too early, rather than getting the bat out in front by cutting it across your chest. I hate the phrase “take the knob of the bat to the ball,” since it defeats a ton of rotational hitting theory (which is what I subscribe to and see in most good MLB hitters), but nevertheless it is applicable here.

Other flaws in my swing include hip slide after footplan. This will cause lost power and poor perception of the baseball in flight.
But enough with the bad (for now), on with the good! I have been trying to change a lot of my pitching mechanics for the past few weeks to help my control and my velocity, and I finally have clicked a bit on both issues. I’ll post a detailed gamelog later, but I went two innings the other day, striking out one, walking two, and allowing no hits while throwing almost all fastballs. The hitters were telling me that they were behind the fastball because all of my outs occurred on weak popups to the infield or short outfield. It was a real good shot to my confidence.

Without further ado, here’s a clip that I liked that showed improved velocity:

This clip is slowed down to 1/10 seconds per frame (I think). Here’s what I changed:

• Carry more momentum from leg kick apex to footplant
• Drift through the balance point
• Delay the arm and feel the disconnection between the body and the arm to produce the “whip” effect

Now, is this image perfect? Definitely not. My long, loopy arm action sucks, and I’m still getting into the high cocked position too early. However, the improvements are significant - I’m throwing much harder and my curveball grip is coming along nicely. What I need to work on in the future is breaking the hands later, speeding up the body more, drifting through the balance point more, and developing a more “elbowy” arm action instead of taking it straight back.

After studying this animated image sequence, it’s also very evident that I pronate extremely well after throwing the ball, which is really good news for my elbow. I’m happy I don’t have to teach myself this.

Here’s the full side session video. I think the increase in velocity on the fastball is markedly improved. Yes, I am telegraphing the off-speed pitches, but that’s the least of my concerns at this point.Pitches in order:

1. Four-seam fastball
2. Overhand curveball
3. Two-seam gyroball

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Yesterday I threw long toss and threw about 70 pitches from a mound to my workout partner, trying to stay loose and throw from a three-quarter angle that I had experimented with while I warmed up on Sunday at the PSSBL game. The difference was immediately noticeable - my control was a lot better, and though the mechanics were raw, the velocity was great. After some trial and error, I realized that I could easily throw a slider, split-change, and gyroball from this arm angle, all accurately and with good results. Obviously it’s a bit early to be trumpeting the fanfare, but I’m pumped to show this to my pitching instructor.

Hopefully I’ll get some more throwing in tomorrow, and video to come. My YouTube account was suspended due to posting MLB-related videos, but I’ll have another one up and running soon.

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