This was a really good read.

Thanks for posting that. It was a great read.

That was great. But...so does his wrist go above his arm when his foot plants?

That was great. But...so does his wrist go above his arm when his foot plants?

No, it does it just after. He does this real quick external rotation right after his foot plants so it isn't too late.

PTATC ... from your knowledge, how long before Sale has a serious arm injury? Royals announcer Jeff Montgomery said his pitching motion is a total recipe for disaster.

What does some chick know about baseball pitching?

 

Interesting read. Thanks for posting.

PTATC ... from your knowledge, how long before Sale has a serious arm injury? Royals announcer Jeff Montgomery said his pitching motion is a total recipe for disaster.

 

 

Did you even read the article?

PTATC ... from your knowledge, how long before Sale has a serious arm injury? Royals announcer Jeff Montgomery said his pitching motion is a total recipe for disaster.

His mechanics are weird but pitchers in the past have lived with them. He gets his arm in a pretty good position with that quick flip into external rotation. I still think that many injuries come from the over effort on too many pitches. Cooper does a good job of keeping the players throwing within their limits. Odds are that he will have some type of shoulder problem (but what pitcher doesn't) with his weird mechanics. However, he seems to manage it so far. I wouldn't be able to go out a limb and predict a time but his chances are greater than others.

It's funny how all the articles a few years ago about CS were filled with colorful analogies about his throwing motion involving chainsaws, razor blades and bags of cats, and the imminent disaster that laid in wait. Now most of them make the comment that his delivery is surprisingly "clean".

 

So much CYA in scouting, it's often hard to tell if when they're expressing an honest opinion, or merely caveating previous wrongness.

Edited April 7, 201412 yr by Stan Bahnsen

It's funny how all the articles a few years ago about CS were filled with colorful analogies about his throwing motion involving chainsaws, razor blades and bags of cats, and the imminent disaster that laid in wait. Now most of them make the comment that his delivery is surprisingly "clean".

 

So much CYA in scouting, it's often hard to tell if when they're expressing an honest opinion, or merely caveating previous wrongness.

Every time I read something like this it reminds me of the discussion of how strong Mark Prior's mechanics were since he led so much with his legs that his arm didn't face a lot of stress.

Every time I read something like this it reminds me of the discussion of how strong Mark Prior's mechanics were since he led so much with his legs that his arm didn't face a lot of stress.

That part is true. That was strong part of his mechanics. The part that made him somewhat susceptible to injury was the over extension at the end of the follow through. Iwas never a fan of the "toweldrill" becuase it taught pitchers to snap and over extend at the end of the motion and made the follow through less effective. This was from the Tom House theory of pitching. I've had discussions with him and Larry Rothschild about it and they were good discussions but I never agreed with it.

There is a guy named Chris O'Leary who has a site on trainwreck pitching mechanics. I found the site during Sale's first season in 2011, just waiting for him to get analyzed. I think the fact that he hasn't analyzed Sale yet is a good thing. I think that there is a possiblity Sale may actually not have an inverted W arm action, because he leans over slightly while delivering the pitch, so he might actually have an arm action more similar to Randy Johnson. It may look like an inverted W because of the slight lean. I'm just a fan so who knows.

 

EDIT: After looking at the track record this guy has of identifying problematic mechanics, I want to call The Score/ESPN 1000/87.7 and alert them of this guy and suggest that they get him on the air to discuss Sale's mechanics. I think that the Score might have a problem with it because they are the Sox flagship station, and Sale is the organization's prized jewel.

 

BTW, here is the site : http://www.chrisoleary.com/

Edited April 8, 201412 yr by Elgin Slim

O'Leary hasn't been universally well-received

O'Leary hasn't been universally well-received

Really? Please explain. I'd like to know why. He has pretty much nailed a lot of the elbow/shoulder injuries over the past 4-5 years. Almost every guy on his lists has been injured. Notable exception: Gio Gonzalez. Thanks for telling me this before I made a fool of myself. What are the objections to him and his ideas? I have been following his site ever since Sale came up and his identifications of problematic mechanics are pretty much spot on with regard to injury.

Edited April 8, 201412 yr by Elgin Slim

"Two of the things that make my job a lot easier are Herm Schneider and Don Cooper," Hahn said. "Not only because it allows us to expand the universe of pitchers that we're comfortable taking a chance on, but we've also got pitchers seeking us out, too. Guys who haven't unleashed their potential or who have injury issues contacting us and saying they want to be a part of what we're doing."

 

^ I feel like this is why signings like Paulino and Hanson happen.

"Two of the things that make my job a lot easier are Herm Schneider and Don Cooper," Hahn said. "Not only because it allows us to expand the universe of pitchers that we're comfortable taking a chance on, but we've also got pitchers seeking us out, too. Guys who haven't unleashed their potential or who have injury issues contacting us and saying they want to be a part of what we're doing."

 

^ I feel like this is why signings like Paulino and Hanson happen.

 

Lucky us.

"Two of the things that make my job a lot easier are Herm Schneider and Don Cooper," Hahn said. "Not only because it allows us to expand the universe of pitchers that we're comfortable taking a chance on, but we've also got pitchers seeking us out, too. Guys who haven't unleashed their potential or who have injury issues contacting us and saying they want to be a part of what we're doing."

 

^ I feel like this is why signings like Paulino and Hanson happen.

 

That is the quote I was referring to earlier. I wonder if this was a message to Hanson, or if it was because of Hanson?