Add new comment

Interesting quotes that Drayer got from Felix. Evidently, Felix is very anti-film study but his recent troubles may have changed his mind.
Felix Hernandez is the last Mariner you would ever see in the video room. Any time he has been asked about looking at film, be it of the opposition or himself, he would always dismiss the question with an "I never look at the video." Felix believes he knows himself and he knows the hitters he faces and that he doesn't need to cloud the waters by mulling over tape. It is something he has had no use for until now.
After once again saying he had a problem with his fastball following his last start, I asked him if it might be time to look at the tape. He said it was.
Today I followed up with him to see if he got anything out of watching the tape. It sounds like he did. "I was watching film yesterday, and it looked terrible," he told me. "Everything, my upper body is up, I'm not finishing my pitches, not just because of my back. I went to the films before my bad back, and still like that. I am not pushing with my back leg, not finishing my pitches. It surprised me a lot."
Drayer does push a lot of fluff but the relationships she establishes with the players does yield some golden nuggets from time to time. I'm wondering if the pitching mechanics guru's here (Taro, Jemanji) are seeing the same thing.
Going to be interesting to see if Felix can make some adjustments and start finishing those FB's again.