What do you make of this (McCarthy)?

by bronco28 on Apr 5, 2008 9:47 AM CDT

http://rangersfarmreport.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/04/what_have_they_done_to_brandon.html

Why the difference in the stride, and do you think that might have something to do with his elbow problems?

Looks strange. Almost 100% arm. How can he possibly be getting any power from his lower half?

What do you guys think is going on here? Are they trying to get him to "stay tall" and pitch downhill more? Wouldn't the extremely short stride also reduce velocity?

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"Wouldn't the extremely short stride also reduce velocity?"

Ding ding.

Baseball Time in Arlington

by jamcadbury on Apr 5, 2008 10:08 AM CDT 0 recs

McCarthy

When he was posting here before, he was mentioning having horrible mechanics issues last season, and he thinks he got it worked out.

I asked about velocity, and he said there shouldnt be any issues with hitting 92 consistently with the fastball this season

Keep in mind this was all well before spring training.

"When we're mad we'll use our words. Then the rest of the world will play nice with us. And the only boom-booms will be in our pants." - Ralph Wiggum

by rentz on Apr 5, 2008 10:16 AM CDT 0 recs

MJH may be right

but I find the pics unconvincing - his foot is off the rubber in the bottom two - hard to judge.

BTW, if you read this MJH - my newsreader discontinued alerting me when your blog is updated. I suspect it has to do with the upgrade to the MLB.com blogs platform. I had no idea you were posting daily until bronco directed us there. I fixed it, but I wonder how many others who use newsreaders aren't getting updated. This probably goes for T.R. and Jamey's blogs there, too. Everybody check your newsreaders.

Rangers Farm Probables

by shroomer on Apr 5, 2008 10:46 AM CDT 0 recs

Same here...

Your RSS feed doesn't seem to be working.

Rangeressary

"the poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese." - G.K. Chesterton

by rangeressary on Apr 5, 2008 8:03 PM CDT up 0 recs

I don't see how you could tell a real difference

judging by those pictures -- they're of entirely different spots in the motion.

by a bebop a rebop on Apr 5, 2008 11:11 AM CDT 0 recs

really?

I think the difference in stride length is remarkable. Look at where his front foot lands in the 2 pics, seems to me that with the ChiSox, his stride was quite a bit longer.

Pedro: "I wasn't cockfighting, I just have a wide stance."

by tricer on Apr 5, 2008 1:09 PM CDT up 0 recs

to see the difference in stride length

I think you can ignore his upper half.

Pedro: "I wasn't cockfighting, I just have a wide stance."

by tricer on Apr 5, 2008 1:11 PM CDT up 0 recs

I see what you're saying

but I still don't think you can say anything much from those pictures. And his front foot hasn't even landed in the picture with the White Sox. There's no telling where he eventually puts it down (given that the last part of the stride is where you generally perform the "stepover" which doesn't really move your foot forward) or what happens with the rest of his lower body thereafter.

I'm talking out of my ass and I don't think I've ever actually seen a McCarthy game (college student, not a Texas local) -- but I still don't think you can tell anything significant from the before-and-after pictures here.

by a bebop a rebop on Apr 5, 2008 4:04 PM CDT up 0 recs

Since the subject is McCarty

A couple of BIG ifs...

IF Gabbard is a viable, consistent 4th starter and
IF Mendoza is a viable, consistent 5th starter and
BMac has some struggles during his rehab...

would the Rangers option hin to OKC to give him some time to work out his problems? He does have 2 options left.

I don't want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it. ~Rogers Hornsby

by RangerMad on Apr 5, 2008 12:01 PM CDT 0 recs

In order

for that to happen, you'll need 3 pitchers to perform well (Jennings, Gabbard and Mendoza), chances of that happening are rare. I'd rather trade Jennings sometime regardless of what happens, I think he'll have his best value before people get used to his 85mph heat.

by FirebatM3 on Apr 5, 2008 12:33 PM CDT up 0 recs

Well...here's how:

First, you change the White Sox uniform to a Rangers uniform.

Second, you compare photos from 2 completely different stages of the pitcher's rotation.

Third...ugh.

by tlt29 on Apr 5, 2008 1:20 PM CDT 0 recs

Rotation s/b Windup.

My bad.

by tlt29 on Apr 5, 2008 1:20 PM CDT up 0 recs

John Danks

has the same form and the same pose on EVERY step of his windup AND delivery, but that's nothing compared to Nick Masset - who has 13 different windups.

by FirebatM3 on Apr 5, 2008 2:52 PM CDT 0 recs

look at the back leg

and where his arm is; seems very clear to me that there's no way in hell his back leg ends up there at the same point in the throw in the WS pic as it does in the Rangers pics

but if you guys think that it's not noteworthy, I defer to you and will continue to wonder why he can't stay healthy anymore

thoughts? just some coincidence? a freak situation? or does his background somehow make elbw problemsn foreseeable?

by bronco28 on Apr 5, 2008 7:39 PM CDT 0 recs

Give it a rest.

"You are this month's NYTXFAN." - t ball

by Chase Irwin on Apr 5, 2008 8:34 PM CDT up 0 recs

My 2 cents...

The picture is inconclusive because unless you have a tape measure it's hard to tell and the pictures as everyone has said are in different points of the delivery so it makes it look shorter but it truly may not be.

You'd really need video of his delivery from the 2 different teams to really tell. Now if he did shorten his stride then that can lead to injuries and lack of velocity. On the velocity side, if you don't stretch your stride enough (general rule of thumb 80% of your height), you are not loading your torso thus losing a ton of power. On the injury side, if your foot lands before you've hit the correct arm angle, the brain naturally tells you to just throw the damn thing which leads to a premature throw and dropped elbow which now just led to shoulder surgery.

Who had that website of pitcher deliveries?

by slimshadty12 on Apr 6, 2008 12:37 PM CDT 0 recs