I don't have anything add regarding the "pause" Felix makes, but what Doc says makes sense to me. This is something that is even more heavily taught in Japan. You'll see NPB pitchers with even more exaggerated "pauses" (Nomo/Matsuzaka/etc./etc.); I think may be because its a culture thats heavy in golf in addition baseball. Seeing how few NPB pitchers actually throw in the mid 90s, I'm wondering if this is actually handicapping overall velocity.
It seems likely that Felix will improve naturally in time, but it has to be encouraged by the coaches.
I definetly agree with driveline's overall point that Felix has GREAT mechanics from an injury-prevention perspective. If there was ever a pitcher you wanted to give 9-year contract to, Felix would be that guy. We're very lucky to have him.
Bleeding Blue & Teal predicts a long, healthy career for Felix. We once talked with Bill James about Roger Clemens and he said, "It all depends on the pitcher. I think 250 innings a year for Roger Clemens is fine."
The moral imperatives around 120 pitches and 200 innings are too dogmatic. If Felix feels good at 225-250 innings, let him go.
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BBT's post links to Driveline Mechanics, who talks about the "balance point." Pitching coaches talk about "finding a balance point" and DM takes the other side. What is aiki-doc's take?
In golf, what happens is that golfers take the club back and then, because of a slightly shrill attitude about the swing, begin the start back down too quickly -- before they have "loaded" their hips-shoulder tension. They use an IMAGINARY "pause at the top" idea to get themselves better loaded, and accelerating more smoothly.
It is also the case that a golfer should be able to pause at the top and be on balance. If you stop at the transition, and then start stumbling around :- ) obviously you've got to realign yourself.
AFTER a golfer is loading in a smooth, unhurried fashion, THEN he can think about tempo -- about not "hesitating", as DM finds annoying.
Go back to the Driveline Mechanics videos and you will see that despite Lincecum's smooth tempo, he is visibly loading on the backstroke before his lower body begins accelerating the baseball. Notice especially that as Lincecum's knee begins forward on the throughstroke, his back shoulder dips (to finish the backstroke) and create extra load. This is what the M's pitching coaches are talking about.
Ryan's motion is even more obvious: as his lead knee starts forward, he pushes his upper body even further into the backstroke, and does so rather powerfully.
I've got to side with the coaches on this one. It's true that after you have your balance point, you then want to find tempo. But you can't do it fast before you do it right. :- ) You've got to spend some time at half speed, and learn exactly where your wrist contacts an incoming punch, before you can ever perform the same motion at full speed.
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Prospect Insider has a nice piece calling for Felix' contract extension, complete with a data-rich list of comps and their dollars.
Ron Shandler 2009 on Felix:
Slight loss of control (BB/9) a concern, but Dom/GB combination more than covers the occasional BB. Overdue for some H% help, Seattle IF defense perhaps betraying him. It's coming, it's coming ... UP: sub-3.00 ERA, rejoicing
In Shandler-speak, a sub-3.00 ERA is referring to a Pedro-territory season. Dom of course is strikeouts; those stayed steady at 7.8 to 7.8. Felix' BB did go from 2.5 to 3.6, and whereas we might blow it off, Shandler wants to know why. (It was because Felix stopped over-challenging; his HR went down also.)
Felix already has xERA's of 2.36, 3.14, and 3.12 in the rear view mirror. He has high K rates and sky-high GB rates. And one of these days he's going to learn how to make hitters guess wrong.
The man has a string of 2.75-ERA seasons in him.
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According to Jason, it's Felix and Nero who are standing on the street corner, puzzled as to why the M's won't ask them out. The M's got scared on Randy Johnson and cheated the city out of historic baseball glory. Here comes the closest thing they'll get to a second chance. They're hesitating why, again?
Cheers,
Jeff
Comments
What a great point about Nomo, Matsuzaka, and the other NPB stars. Daimajin also had a very leisurely transition.
Obviously this is something that coaches are teaching on an industry scale. There are advantages to the "pause at the top" learning technique, no doubts there.
Personally would much prefer that a pitcher learn the benefits of the "pause at the top" and then pitch in tempo. But the way that Matsuzaka does it, he's never going to lose those benefits, even temporarily.
Technically, pausing at the top is a balk now. They call it the Nomo rule because Hideous Nomo's pause was so exaggerated as to be distracting for his own catcher, let alone the batter. But I've yet to see Dice-K called on that and his is pretty visible. King Felix' is more like a deliberation than a stop.