Pitching Mechanics Analysis
Stephen Strasburg
Given all the hype surrounding him of late, I thought
I'd update this piece on the pitching mechanics of Stephen
Strasburg using some photographs I have collected
over the past few days.
The (Updated) Bottom Line
The bottom line on Stephen Strasburg is that I
don't think he'll be another Mark Prior. While I'm working
to get some video to confirm this -- because still photos
can only tell you so much -- Stephen Strasburg's mechanics
and timing don't seem to be as bad as those of Mark Prior.
However, Strasburg also isn't completely clean.
I see things that concern me in his arm action and timing
and the pitcher they again bring to mind is John Smoltz, another
pitcher who had a borderline
Inverted W
and some arm problems as a result.
I could very easily see Stephen Strasburg having a
comparable career; years of total dominance accompanied by
lost years due to shoulder and elbow problems.
Let's Go to the Pics
I have spent the past week collecting as many recent pictures
of Stephen Strasburg as I can, and here are some of
the better and more telling ones.
Stephen Strasburg
Lots of people will say that the picture above shows Stephen
Strasburg's clear Inverted W. I wouldn't say that is anything
other than a borderline Inverted W. Because he is leaning
forward toward third base, his elbows look higher than they
actually are.
Stephen Strasburg
The picture above makes me nervous for three reasons. First,
I see a suggestion of a timing problem. It looks like Stephen
Strasburg may pull back with his glove elbow a bit early, which
can create a timing problem and which is the likely cause of
Mark Mulder and Jeff Francis' shoulder problems. Second, Stephen Strasburg's elbows are well behind his shoulders.
Third, his elbows are quite high relative his shoulders.
Greg Maddux
Nolan Ryan
If you look at how greats like Greg Maddux and Nolan Ryan Scapular
Load, their elbows never get that high (because the higher the
elbows get, the greater the strain on the shoulder).
Stephen Strasburg
Stephen Strasburg
The two pictures above show a similar pattern from slightly
different angles. Notice how Stephen Strasburg is pulling back
with his Glove Side (GS) elbow while his Pitching Arm Side (PAS) forearm is
still only horizontal.
Stephen Strasburg
The photo above is from a slightly later moment in time.
Notice how Stephen Strasburg has continued to pull back with his
glove side elbow and how his PAS forearm is still not yet
vertical. I'd need video to confirm this, but this is often
characteristic of a timing problem.
Stephen Strasburg
Similarly, the photo above gives some suggestion of a timing
problem and a resulting increased load on the front of the PAS
shoulder. Look at how much Stephen Strasburg's scaps are pinched
together. At a minimum, you don't see this degree a scap
pinching in Nolan Ryan.
Video Analysis
The video clip below, which I obtained from
Driveline Mechanics, is of the pitching mechanics of
Stephen Strasburg. The problem is that Stephen Strasburg's
pitching mechanics appear to have been influenced by,
and are remarkably similar to, those of
Mark Prior. The thing to pay attention to in this clip is the
borderline
Inverted W that is clearly visible in Frame 23 and Frame 24.
Stephen Strasburg
Stephen Strasburg's Inverted W
While the Inverted W isn't automatically bad, in Stephen
Strasburg's case it does appear to create a significant timing problem.
Notice that in Frame 26, when Stephen Strasburg's Glove Side
(GS) foot plants and his shoulders start to rotate, his Pitching
Arm Side (PAS) forearm is just above the horizontal rather than
being vertical (or nearly so) as I prefer. In Frame 27, when
Stephen Strasburg's shoulder's have clearly rotate a significant
amount, his PAS is still not yet vertical.
All of this causes Stephen Strasburg's PAS upper arm to
externally rotate especially hard and much (see Frame 29) which
significantly increases the load on the elbow and the shoulder.
What's more it looks like this external rotation, as with Mark
Prior, occurs with his PAS upper arm elevated in a position of
hyperabduction. If you combine
this with Stephen Strasburg's plus to plus plus velocity and the
fact that he seems to be a fastball/slider guy, rather than a
fastball/change-up guy, you've got
someone who is putting tremendous, and likely excessive,
stress on his elbow and his shoulder.
The Bottom Line on Stephen Strasburg
The bottom line on Stephen Strasburg is that, while he may be
a consensus number one like David Price, mechanically speaking
Stephen Strasburg is no David Price.
Like Mark Prior, Stephen Strasburg has some
Inverted W in his arm action and a timing problem as a
result (aka habitual
rushing).
This will significantly increase the load on his elbow and his
shoulder and make him a very high risk draft choice.
I could even see him pulling a Cole St. Clair and blowing up
mid-season. However, because his
mechanics in some of the frames I have seen aren't quite as bad
as Mark Prior's, and at times he sometimes makes the Horizontal W rather
than the Inverted W...
Stephen Strasburg
...there is a chance that Stephen Strasburg could
have a career more like a John Smoltz. In that case, he would be
effective for periods of time but would also struggle with elbow and shoulder problems.
It's a bit hard to say for sure, since Stephen Strasburg seems
to show significant variability in his arm action from year to
year.
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