Pitching Mechanics Analysis
Cliff Lee
11/26/2008
The video clip below is of the pitching mechanics of Cliff
Lee of the Cleveland Indians.
I have gotten a significant number of requests to
analyze Cliff Lee's pitching mechanics, and they have only
increased since he won the 2008 Cy Young. As a result, I thought
people would be interested in my take on Cliff Lee's pitching
mechanics.
Cliff Lee
Let's use the video clip above, and some high-quality stills, to get a big picture view of Cliff Lee's pitching
mechanics and his timing.
In general, I like what I see.
First, notice Cliff Lee's rotational lower body action.
After he breaks his hands at his numbers in Frame 56, Cliff Lee
sweeps his Glove Side (GS) leg out toward First Base in Frame
67. Cliff Lee also leads with the bottom of his GS foot as he
does this, which helps to keep his hips closed as long as
possible.
Second, after he breaks his hands, Cliff Lee's Pitching
Arm Side (PAS) elbow never gets too high. As you can see in
Frame 79 and in the still below, Cliff Lee comes to the Horizontal W position and not
the
Inverted W position, which is good.
Cliff Lee
As the photos below make clear, Cliff Lee's PAS elbow also
drops as his shoulders get ready to rotate.
Cliff Lee
Cliff Lee
Third, you can see that Cliff Lee has good hip/shoulder
separation, which means that he's fairly efficient and knows how
to throw the ball with his entire body and not just his arm.
Notice how in Frame 81 through Frame 82 and in the still photo
below, Cliff Lee's hips rotate ahead of his shoulders.
Cliff Lee
Fourth, Cliff Lee's timing looks solid. His Glove Side
foot plants, and his shoulders start rotating, around Frame 84,
at which point Cliff Lee's PAS forearm is pretty much vertical.
That should keep him from generating unnecessary loads on his
shoulder and his elbow.
Cliff Lee
Fifth, the only thing that's slightly funky about
Cliff Lee is his higher arm slot (high 3/4) and what that
requires him to do with his body (and that makes clips of him a
bit hard to read). Because he throws from such a high arm slot,
he has to arch his back through the later stages of his
delivery. That could theoretically make him more vulnerable to
back and oblique problems, but that's hard to say for sure.
Cliff Lee
Finally, the only negative thing about Cliff Lee's pitching
mechanics is how he finishes. As the video clip below
demonstrates, while Cliff Lee does bring his chest to his glove,
he finishes with his Glove Side arm pointing back toward Second
Base and with his glove well behind him. This will leave him
vulnerable to come-backers and will make it slightly harder for
him to field his position.
Cliff Lee
Cliff Lee has a number of effective pitches, and it's
interesting to study how he grips the ball. The photos below
show Cliff Lee's change-up grip, which looks like a variant of
the circle change-up.
Cliff Lee's Change-Up Grip
Cliff Lee's Change-Up Grip
Cliff Lee's Change-Up Grip
Cliff Lee also has a very effective curveball, and the photos
below demonstrate that he uses a knuckle curve grip to throw it.
Cliff Lee
Cliff Lee
The Bottom Line
The bottom line on Cliff Lee is that he's one of may favorite
left-handed pitchers. Not only is he effective, but Cliff Lee's
pitching mechanics look solid. Between his pitches, his pitching
mechanics, and his higher arm slot, Cliff Lee strikes me as a
kind of left-handed Mike Mussina. That should make him a fairly
low-risk, high-reward pitcher for a number of years.
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