Matusz article and chart

[CA-ORIOLE]

Whatever delivery BMat used up until last year is the one he should use.

Same thing with Tillman. What was his delivery when he was a top 30 prospect and why have you moved him away from that?

Let these guys work with what they are comfortable with.

I think there were many things that messed BMat last year..some were physical, some were mental.

He appears to be healthier, is in better shape and mentally seems to be fine.

So, now he has to go out and perform. Just let him do it in a way he feels comfortable and stop trying to have him "hurry up".

Well, I would say that you are right that Tillman and Matusz are the ones to likely have the most issues with it. I really don't know the extent of it though. I guess MG is implying that BMAT was rushing his delivery in the second to confrom with the requirement and that's what threw him off. Again, I don't know. If it is an issue for some particular pitchers it doesn't seem fair to do this after they've developed/graduated to the majors at this point. If it's an organizational issue/priority then they should implement it in the minors and look at the ML guys you have on a case-by case basis.

[Sports Guy]

Well, I would say that you are right that Tillman and Matusz are the ones to likely have the most issues with it. I really don't know the extent of it though. I guess MG is implying that BMAT was rushing his delivery in the second to confrom with the requirement and that's what threw him off. Again, I don't know. If it is an issue for some particular pitchers it doesn't seem fair to do this after they've developed/graduated to the majors at this point. If it's an organizational issue/priority then they should implement it in the minors and look at the ML guys you have on a case-by case basis.

Yep...personally, I think an argument exists that the best acquisition this offseason was Peterson.

One of the biggest issues with the Orioles pitchers over the years has been poor mechanics. He is supposed to be an expert in that and I feel that the Orioles should do basically whatever he wants done with these pitchers, unless his theories have become outdated and that he is completely off his rocker, which I doubt is the case.

I like how the Orioles got the Texas hitting coordinator...use these guys knowledge and let them implement the changes they feel are needed.

[makoman]

Not only that, but let's assume Matusz goes from his current rate of runners stealing to being so good no one ever attempts to steal off of him. That would mean about a 5% reduction in runs he allows, or less than 10 runs over his 52 career starts. Being quick to the plate should be about 14th on his list of things to work on.

To expand on this...

Matusz has allowed 34 steals in 270 innings...or 1.13 per nine.

In the past 2 years in the AL there have been 3105 steals in 40500.1 innings, or .69 per nine.

So if he threw 200 innings he'd allow like 25 steals, where the league would allow only 15.

So him being slow to the plate costs him...10 bases per year? That stinks and you'd want him to improve on that if he can, but not at the expense of anything else, and it certainly isn't some huge deal.

Also I guess Buck said you have to be good at holding runners to be a ML pitcher. Some pretty good pitchers:

Randy Johnson allowed 456 in 4135.1, or .99 per nine

Clemens allowed 446 in 4916.2, or .82 per nine

Greg Maddux allowed 547 in 5008.1, or .98 per nine

Or in other words, a difference of like 3-6 bases per year better than Matusz. If you're going to mess up a (potentially) good pitcher for that, it's just stupid.

[eb45]

I might be reading the chart wrong, but it seems pretty clear to me that Matusz's best stretches were when his fastball was consistently around 90, with little variance. His worst stretches were either when he didn't have his velocity, or he had pretty wide variance. Could that indicate that he's had trouble repeating his delivery at times, and those were the times he struggled, whereas when he was at his best he was repeating his motion consistently all the time, even if he didn't have big velo numbers?

[Lucky Jim]

Ah, the perils of being mikegallo.

[tilgaham]

Isn't it obvious. He's under 30. Too many video games.

Hey now :slytf:

Edit:

Also, I think it's difficult for people to comment on mechanical analysis, because not everyone really understands it. 88 vs 93 is much easier for the average fan (who does not have a strong background) to understand! Relax y'all.

[mikegallo]

In this video from 2010 you can see timing is everything to Matsuz delivery when hes on....When his delievery is nice and slowed down it allows for his balance timing and explosiveness....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctzFRJhMeCU

He waits for his leg kick to get to its high point before he starts his arm motion, as the ball hits its back checkpoint he is very balanced allowing himself to explode of the rubber with his back leg, get on top of the ball and as a result, his command is great and he has more zip on his FB as well as more movement of his off speed stuff...

Also he hides the ball well behind his back fooling the hitter because after his leg landing the hitter sees the ball for the first time giving the batter less time to react, making Brians FB look faster and creating deception.....Which is what we saw several times in the first inning of the March 5th game. His delivery was slowed down, he hit his checkpoints at the right time, creating velocity, deception and command.

Being balanced (slowed down) and having the ball behind him at his back checkpoint at the right time is the key, thats what allows him to use his legs to get velocity and sets his arm (and the ball) in the right spot for his proper release point while not allowing the hitter to time the ball effectively.

In the second inning we saw much of what we did in 2011, he rushed through his delievery starting the ball (Not really leaving himself enough time to start the ball) to late in his delivery, not allowing himself enough time to hit his back checkpoint, hitting the ground with his front foot before his arm was far enough through, which resulted in less explosivness, leaving the ball up and 'showing' the hitter the ball better. He was releasing it to early and we all saw the results last year. The good news is this is all fixable and I see no reason (barring injury) he cant be a solid number 2/3 going forward...

To bad I cant find video of the game (March 5th), if anyone can it would be very helpful.

Matsuz relies on his command and deception alot and it's his bread and butter. Looking at his old tape it's easy to see why he's so good and why he doesn't need to throw 95 to be good. His proper/old mechanics are really good and for the Orioles to fool with them is just dumb...Matsuz and the Orioles needs to remeber what got him there.

[Stotle]

In this video from 2010 you can see timing is everything to Matsuz delivery when hes on....When his delievery is nice and slowed down it allows for his balance timing and explosiveness....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctzFRJhMeCU

He waits for his leg kick to get to its high point before he starts his arm motion, as the ball hits its back checkpoint he is very balanced allowing himself to explode of the rubber with his back leg, get on top of the ball and as a result, his command is great and he has more zip on his FB as well as more movement of his off speed stuff...

Also he hides the ball well behind his back fooling the hitter because after his leg landing the hitter sees the ball for the first time giving the batter less time to react, making Brians FB look faster and creating deception.....Which is what we saw several times in the first inning of the March 5th game. His delivery was slowed down, he hit his checkpoints at the right time, creating velocity, deception and command.

Being balanced (slowed down) and having the ball behind him at his back checkpoint at the right time is the key, thats what allows him to use his legs to get velocity and sets his arm (and the ball) in the right spot for his proper release point while not allowing the hitter to time the ball effectively.

In the second inning we saw much of what we did in 2011, he rushed through his delievery starting the ball (Not really leaving himself enough time to start the ball) to late in his delivery, not allowing himself enough time to hit his back checkpoint, hitting the ground with his front foot before his arm was far enough through, which resulted in less explosivness, leaving the ball up and 'showing' the hitter the ball better. He was releasing it to early and we all saw the results last year. The good news is this is all fixable and I see no reason (barring injury) he cant be a solid number 2/3 going forward...

To bad I cant find video of the game (March 5th), if anyone can it would be very helpful.

Matsuz relies on his command and deception alot and it's his bread and butter. Looking at his old tape it's easy to see why he's so good and why he doesn't need to throw 95 to be good. His proper/old mechanics are really good and for the Orioles to fool with them is just dumb...Matsuz and the Orioles needs to remeber what got him there.

I appreciate the analysis, but respectfully disagree as to the March 5th start. His mechanics did not appear drastically different from 1st to 2nd inning, and I think this is looking for a rationale to fit a narrative at this point. He ran into some bad luck on Monday, but also missed his spot by a good 8 inches a handful of time. For a first start out of the chute, it was fine. Let's see what he looks like as spring progresses and he hangs more pitches on his arm.

[mikegallo]

I appreciate the analysis, but respectfully disagree as to the March 5th start. His mechanics did not appear drastically different from 1st to 2nd inning, and I think this is looking for a rationale to fit a narrative at this point. He ran into some bad luck on Monday, but also missed his spot by a good 8 inches a handful of time. For a first start out of the chute, it was fine. Let's see what he looks like as spring progresses and he hangs more pitches on his arm.

I think it was more between pitches than innings, when he missed by those 8 inches is when I saw then biggest difference in his timing and release...I agree though that its the first start, with bloop hits and I think that on April 1st this conversation can be much more substantive.

[Il BuonO]

In fact, you could argue that trying to hold runners is part of what screwed up Matusz in the first place. Connor tried to change his delivery last spring to make him quicker to the plate and it threw his mechanics out of whack.

This is what I never understood. Why after finishing the way he did in 2010 would you attempt to change ANYTHING with his mechanics? Arm slot, where he lines up up on the rubber, especially holding runners on would have been on the periphery for me. Matusz may have not been in optimal shape last spring, but they did disservice by trying to mess with him.

[Say O!]

This is what I never understood. Why after finishing the way he did in 2010 would you attempt to change ANYTHING with his mechanics? Arm slot, where he lines up up on the rubber, especially holding runners on would have been on the periphery for me. Matusz may have not been in optimal shape last spring, but they did disservice by trying to mess with him.

Do we really have the full story from last spring about Matusz?

By that, I mean is this a chicken v egg argument - what came first?

Did Matusz arrive out of shape and with later diagnosed abdominal injury, thus having poor velocity from time of arrival, and therefore pitching coach tried to alter mechanics?

OR

Did pitching coach mess with Matusz mechanics from day 1 thereby causing all the issues with velocity, etc.?

I'm not sure we know the full extent of the story here...

[CA-ORIOLE]

Do we really have the full story from last spring about Matusz?

By that, I mean is this a chicken v egg argument - what came first?

Did Matusz arrive out of shape and with later diagnosed abdominal injury, thus having poor velocity from time of arrival, and therefore pitching coach tried to alter mechanics?

OR

Did pitching coach mess with Matusz mechanics from day 1 thereby causing all the issues with velocity, etc.?

I'm not sure we know the full extent of the story here...

I'd say we have a pretty good idea that he wasn't in the best of shape coming into camp and wasn't receptive to changes in his delivery time to the plate. We know he was injured in camp. Beyond that, I'm not sure we know what caused what. I suspect he pitched at less than full health/condition for a good portion of last year (after coming back from the injury).

[Frobby]

Speaking for myself, I really don't care to discuss what caused Matusz's problems last spring anymore. We know he's in boffo shape now, whatever the case was last year. We know he's determined not to repeat his mistakes. I'm ready to turn the page. To me, the main point made in Melewski's artice is that, whatever shape he is in, and even if his velocity is at a respectable level, he needs to be able to command all four of his pitches the way he did in 2010 if he is going to be successful. That's what I need to see.

[srock]

What kind of a complex do you have, anyway? You post some mechanical observations and in the same post start worrying that it will be ignored?

Speaking for myself, I am not a student of pitchers' mechanics and I didn't notice the things you pointed out, but I am not disagreeing with them. I will let others who watch those things more closely give their opinions.

Honesty I couldn't read the whole post due to poor grammar and spelling.

[canonfaz]

Not sure if this is the right place for this or not, but here it goes:

Looks like Buck is still obsessed with "time to the plate". This is from one of Roch's post today:

We've challenged our pitchers with Matt (Wieters) and (Taylor) Teagarden back there. He had a really good time to the plate from the stretch.

Have stolen bases against really been such a big deal in the past against us?

http://www.masnsports.com/school_of_roch/2012/03/showalter-speaks-after-2-1-victory.html