I don't understand how Capps' hop is legal

[Three Run Homer]

Where is his arm though? He is bringing it foward while he starts towards home, right?

No, he hops and then brings the ball forward. Google "Carter Capps Delivery" and you'll find a video from a Braves broadcast earlier this year that shows his delivery in slow motion. The ball is still by the ground with his right arm fully extended when he hops.

This is cheating. I admire him for being able to perfect a motion like this, but it should not be legal. What's the point of having a pitching rubber if you are able to do this?

[El Gordo]

No, he hops and then brings the ball forward. Google "Carter Capps Delivery" and you'll find a video from a Braves broadcast earlier this year that shows his delivery in slow motion. The ball is still by the ground with his right arm fully extended when he hops.

This is cheating. I admire him for being able to perfect a motion like this, but it should not be legal. What's the point of having a pitching rubber if you are able to do this?

How is it cheating if league says it's OK?

[Morgan423]

How is it cheating if league says it's OK?

Travel forward five years, and welcome to the league dominated by pogo pitchers.

[eddie83]

I wanted to see Jones steal but Davis swung at the first pitch. Make the guy throw over or something. That delay would be hard to throw a runner out.

[El Gordo]

Travel forward five years, and welcome to the league dominated by pogo pitchers.

So be it, it's still not cheating.

[Morgan423]

So be it, it's still not cheating.

Indeed. Though with the game already shifting to less offense, I wonder if there'd be a rule to stop this put into place if hop-pitching became more widespread.

[JLee2027]

I don't like his delivery. I do think it confers an edge, maybe unintentionally, but it's there.

[BradyBunch]

How is it cheating if league says it's OK?

MLB says it's only legal if he drags his foot. He can't not "leave" the ground. Tonight he wasn't dragging his foot too often. It's actually sad seeing pitcher being able to do a mini crow hop from the mound as it's a HUGE advantage (you can get more weight behind the ball thus higher speeds). If you can only pitch from a crow hop, go play in the outfield.

[El Gordo]

Indeed. Though with the game already shifting to less offense, I wonder if there'd be a rule to stop this put into place if hop-pitching became more widespread.

Maybe, then it would be cheating, but not until then.

[El Gordo]

MLB says it's only legal if he drags his foot. He can't not "leave" the ground. Tonight he wasn't dragging his foot too often. It's actually sad seeing pitcher being able to do a mini crow hop from the mound as it's a HUGE advantage (you can get more weight behind the ball thus higher speeds). If you can only pitch from a crow hop, go play in the outfield.

That's not what I heard the announcers saying tonight. Perhaps you have a copy of the ML ruling on Capp's motion that you can cite? What I heard them say was that he had to be moving more in the direction of the plate and not hopping up and down.

[BradyBunch]

That's not what I heard the announcers saying tonight. Perhaps you have a copy of the ML ruling on Capp's motion that you can cite? What I heard them say was that he had to be moving more in the direction of the plate and not hopping up and down.

Fox broadcasters are the smartest of the bunch either.

“They just said they wanted me to make sure I dragged my foot and not get too elevated in the air, and make sure it’s more on a lateral plane,”

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/carter-capps-jordan-walden-and-legal-deliveries/

[BradyBunch]

aren't*

[brooks1083]

If you watch the breakdown of his delivery from the Braves game, he's obviously just jumping forward two feet and then delivering the pitch from two feet closer. He still has the ball behind his back when he lands.

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[El Gordo]

Fox broadcasters are the smartest of the bunch either.

“They just said they wanted me to make sure I dragged my foot and not get too elevated in the air, and make sure it’s more on a lateral plane,”

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/carter-capps-jordan-walden-and-legal-deliveries/

Nothing in there citing the official ML ruling language, just Capp's description of it. Dragging his foot as opposed to hopping more vertically is a matter of semantics. What he does now is more in keeping with "dragging his foot". He does so towards the end of his push off.

[BradyBunch]

Nothing in there citing the official ML ruling language, just Capp's description of it. Dragging his foot as opposed to hopping more vertically is a matter of semantics. What he does now is more in keeping with "dragging his foot". He does so towards the end of his push off.

It was the conversation between MLB and Marlins/Capp after his MiLB issue. Which means it's MLB's ruling that he can pitch like that as long as his back foot is dragging and he's moving foward.

It's also not semantics. If he was hopping before he started his wind up that would be illegal as a pitcher you have to set and move towards the plate or base you are going to throw to. By going laterally towards the plate in his "hop" with his toe dragging he's making a clear move to home plate. Or so MLB thinks so.

Personally, I thought he should have been called with a balk when Jones was on. I also find his pitch motion illegal as hell because there is a massive difference betten what he's doing and Jordon Walden. Walden's arm is in motion when he does his hop. Capp is just "hopping" down the mound to release the ball at 58 feet or so. His arm isn't even in motion but still by his side/leg in that motion. When plants his front foot he starts his motion like a normal delivery.