I tend to glaze over at most stories about pitching mechanics. They seem so jargony. I really have no idea what an “inverted W” is nor do I know why they don’t just call it an “M.”
But today’s story by Tom Verducci in Sports Illustrated is a different thing. It focuses on Stephen Strasburg and his recovery from Tommy John surgery. At the beginning we learn that the Nats are going to try to have Strasburg change his approach. It’s the Crash Davis thing: strikeouts are fascist, so try to get some more ground balls. They’re more democratic.
But then it goes on to explain why Strasburg may have been more likely to need Tommy John surgery than other pitchers. It all has to do with when his arm is fully-cocked and ready to go, and even those of us who aren’t physiologists can understand what Verducci is saying. And, from the sounds of it, what the Nationals aren’t really paying any attention to.
Good article. You’ll learn stuff.
