A picture is worth a thousand words.

Thank you.  Not sure how easy for someone who may have been doing it for years and someone who’s been talented enough to make it work.   Someone posted a video of Freddie Freeman and Holliday to show similarities but, to me, it just showed how different their lead foot was.  Freeman’s was closed and perfectly in line and parallel to his back foot.  Hollidays foot pointed out and the foot towards 2B position.  I questioned it.  Other guys, who admittedly know more, said it was no problem.  Again, he might be able to become a HOF with those mechanics.  I’ve just never seen a good ML hitter hit that way. From that early January thread “I guess it depends on your definition of “step in the bucket”.  His stride foot definitely doesn’t go straight.  Pretty easy to see where his foot is in relation to the batters box and how much further away it is when it lands.  It doesn’t seem to affect him negatively though.  Interestingly enough, Freeman’s stride foot goes perfectly straight.” Edited January 6 by RZNJ

I thought JP would be more interested in some Cakes!

He allowed only one batted ball over 95 MPH, commanding his cutter particularly well in this one. I think the cutter is the most critical pitch for Povich to take the next step. He’s never had issues getting punch outs, he needs to be able to pitch in the zone without relying too much on his fastball. It’s also a key weapon against RHP - if you don’t have a true plus breaking ball or fastball that can overcome the platoon splits (which I don’t think Povich does), you can only make it as a LHP SP through the strength of your cutter and changeup, which are more reverse/neutral splits.  His changeup is probably not good enough to carry him on its own, so it’s the cutter that brings the whole pitch mix together.  

Agree he steps in the bucket. In theory should be a relatively easy fix. 

His back or shoulder might give out first. Hardly any talented pitcher retires without some sort of serious injury recorded.

Plus Member  30.8k Posted January 24 Aram Leighton from Just Baseball on Holliday “He has the tendency to pull off of the ball a bit with his front side, which can minimize his ability to use the ground and his lower half to generate more power, especially on pitches on the outer half. The move does not impede his ability to consistently make contact thanks to his adjustability and feel for the barrel. Holliday projects as an easy plus hitter with more juice to tap into.“ https://www.justbaseball.com/prospects/baltimore-orioles-top-15-prospects-for-2024/

I guess my point is that the difference between 91 and 93 at the MLB level is probably negligible.  I would put significant emphasis on pitch sequencing, command and control, and the ability to land his secondary pitches.  If I am recalling his repertoire correctly his most important pitch is his change up.  And it was his ability to effectively throw a breaking pitch, I think it was a Slider, that really ushered in his pre-injury success.  Now you can make the case that 2 miles per hours of fastball velocity may make the change up an even more effective pitch.  I would not argue with you about that aspect, however I am not certain it explains much about his previous success.