Pitching Mechanics Analysis
Ben Sheets

12/26/2008

The photos below are of the pitching mechanics of Ben Sheets. They provide some clues as to the root cause of some of Ben Sheets' injury problems.

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets is a prototypical long-armer, as the photos above demonstrate.

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets

As Ben Sheets starts to get his arm up into the high-cocked position, he does two things are problematic. First, he keeps his fingers on top of the ball. Second, he shows the ball to center field. I have seen this create a subtle timing problem in pitchers like Rich Harden, and I think the same thing may be going on with Ben Sheets.

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets

Ben Sheets

Another thing you can see in the mechanics of Ben Sheets is some Hyperabduction, where his Pitching Arm Side elbow stays too high for too long.
     Just to be clear, I am not (that) concerned with how Ben Sheets' PAS elbow is behind his Coronal Plane (aka negative adduction or scapular loading) in the picture above. Instead, I am concerned that his PAS elbow is also at or just above the level of his shoulders at this moment. I also do not like the fact that Ben Sheets' hand is also even farther behind his Coronal Plane at the same time.

Nolan Ryan

If you look at pictures of Nolan Ryan, you will see comparable levels of scapular loading, but the difference is that Nolan Ryan's PAS elbow is well below the level of his shoulders and his PAS hand is closer to his Coronal Plane.

Ben Sheets

Andy Sonnanstine

An interesting thing to note is that I have seen this same basic arm action pattern (which says "bird" or "seagull" to me for some reason), in the pitching mechanics of other pitchers like Andy Sonnanstine. It will be interesting to see how Andy Sonnanstine's shoulder holds up and if he has similar problems to Ben Sheets.

The Bottom Line on Ben Sheets

The bottom line on Ben Sheets is that his arm action is certainly different than the arm action that you see in great pitchers like Nolan Ryan and Greg Maddux. As a result, he represents a higher level of risk than a pitcher like CC Sabathia.