Cole - Injury Risk Like Strasburg

[baltfan]

Rick Peterson seems to thinks so. He says any pitcher palm down when they land with on their front foot is putting tremendous stress on the arm.

http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=35906

Not sure the science of this is good enough to take another pitcher over him but if you think, e.g., Bundy is close to Cole this may be a reason to take Bundy, assuming he doesn't have the same issue.

What do you think?

[TJ Wrangler]

Rick Peterson seems to thinks so. He says any pitcher palm down when they land with on their front foot is putting tremendous stress on the arm.

http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=35906

Not sure the science of this is good enough to take another pitcher over him but if you thing, e.g., Bundy is close to Cole this may be a reason to take Bundy, assuming he doesn't have the same issue.

What do you think?

Yikes! The poor timing and obvious hyperabduction of the shoulder is putting his arm in a very functionally weak position. The talent is there though. If he can make it to the majors in a year or two, it might be worth it to get as much out of his arm before he goes down, assuming he does go down.

[eb45]

I don't think Cole is as bad with that palm-down bit as someone like Mark Prior or Strasburg.

That said, the palm-down thing is a really good clear indicator of potential timing issues that lead to elbow stress. Which, from the picture provided, Cole doesn't really have, at least not anywhere near the same extent as a Prior or Strasburg.

[Stotle]

I think anyone that throws 100 mph probably has some risk of future arm issues. I don't see any red flags in Cole's mechanics that jump out.

[Stotle]

Rick Petersen might be a quack or he might be a very respected pitching coach who knows a lot about mechanics. I have no idea how valid his theory is but it certainly is worth discussing and not dismissing out of hand. That is, unless you think the palm down means absolutely nothing.

You are just way off, as is the opening post. First and foremost, Cole doesn't "palm down". He is generally fully loaded and ready to start the second half of his arm circle through release. Are there instances where his mechanics slip out and his arm lags? I'm sure there are. But even that picture in the article shows a loaded arm.

If I see an comment from Petersen that indicates these issues are prevelant with Cole, maybe I'll reconsider (though I think that analysis is too broad to be of great utility). This article, however, is an author that heard Petersen speak and is now incorrectly applying Petersen's lesson to a picture that doesn't show the concerns Petersen generally harps against.

What should be discussed is why the author is incorrectly applying a theory that has no ties to Gerrit Cole's actual mechanics...

[eb45]

Yep. The theory may be very sound (my initial reaction is that it is, but it is essentially an indicator of a problem rather than a problem itself), but it has no real application to Cole.

[TJ Wrangler]

You are just way off, as is the opening post. First and foremost, Cole doesn't "palm down". He is generally fully loaded and ready to start the second half of his arm circle through release. Are there instances where his mechanics slip out and his arm lags? I'm sure there are. But even that picture in the article shows a loaded arm.

If I see an comment from Petersen that indicates these issues are prevelant with Cole, maybe I'll reconsider (though I think that analysis is too broad to be of great utility). This article, however, is an author that heard Petersen speak and is now incorrectly applying Petersen's lesson to a picture that doesn't show the concerns Petersen generally harps against.

What should be discussed is why the author is incorrectly applying a theory that has no ties to Gerrit Cole's actual mechanics...

From the video I've seen before, it always looked like Cole's arm action was borderline, but generally his timing seemed ok. I was most concerned before that his arm got too high above his shoulder and put it in a more functionally weak position. The picture here may be an extreme example of his arm slot out of whack, but I wouldn't not draft him over it. The potential for what he could offer in the original years under control is too much to pass up on.

[Can_of_corn]

How feasible is it to tweak someone like Cole's delivery to make it less stressful?

[Stotle]

How feasible is it to tweak someone like Cole's delivery to make it less stressful?

Easy. Ask him not to throw so hard.

[tilgaham]

The more Cole falls down draft boards, the happier I am. What if we snagged him? Matusz/Britton/Arrietta/Cole in 2013. Dear god.

[csgordos]

The more Cole falls down draft boards, the happier I am. What if we snagged him? Matusz/Britton/Arrietta/Cole in 2013. Dear god.

Unfortunately, you can also say Yanks/Soxs/Rays/Jays in 2013. Not that it wouldn't be great to have that rotation, but would it amount to what we want in 2 years with the possibility of injury (macdonald & lowen), overhype (riley, cabrera), traded away (bedard), etc. That is why you take the best player available and if that is Cole you take him and not because of some potential great future rotation. Although it is always great to dream.

[tilgaham]

Unfortunately, you can also say Yanks/Soxs/Rays/Jays in 2013. Not that it wouldn't be great to have that rotation, but would it amount to what we want in 2 years with the possibility of injury (macdonald & lowen), overhype (riley, cabrera), traded away (bedard), etc. That is why you take the best player available and if that is Cole you take him and not because of some potential great future rotation. Although it is always great to dream.

He's both.

[eb45]

It is very hard to envision a scenario where Cole is not the best player on the board at 1:4.

[GoldGlove21]

We have heard that Cole, Hultzen or Bundy could all go #1. Rendon could go #2, but so could Starling if the Mariners wanted another hitter. I am pretty sure that 5 of Cole, Rendon, Starling, Hultzen, Bundy, Bauer and J Bradley will go in the top 5 of this draft, but two years ago most people had Hobgood as a #13-#20 overall type talent and the Orioles reached for him. You see it in almost every draft so I would bet there will be a shocker or two in the first 5-10 picks. I just hope the Orioles doesn't over think things and pick whoever is left out of the Cole, Hultzen, Bundy, Rendon and Starling group. I would be happy with anyone of those guys, but I hope that Bundy or Starling is the pick at #4.

[GoldGlove21]

Starling could be the best player at 1:4 if teams are worried about Rendon's health. We are assuming that Rendon will not be there at #4, but he could be, it is possible.