Pineda and Dan Haren
We'd been struggling to come up with an MLB archetype who matches to the attributes that the Bane of High Desert is reported to have. But hey, in the fewest-walks leaderboard, we ran across Danny Haren:
- 6' 5"
- 91-94 fastball
- 7+ K, yet 1+ walks
- Upright, arm-intensive delivery
Until somebody comes up with a better comp, I think I'll go with Haren ...
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In the comments, it was suggested that Pineda might have a high-elbow, generally-violent, top-heavy delivery.
Any problemos with Pineda's delivery would obviously relate to his health, rather than his command, since he evidently already has more command than most ML starters.
Just talking archetypes, of course:
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1. Most RH pitchers who can hit postage stamps with a baseball have upright, arm-only* deliveries. Think Greg Maddux, Brad Radke, Catfish Hunter, Paul Byrd ... indeed, Dan Haren.
It's pretty tough to hit gnats when you're using a max-effort, drop-and-drive Kevin Appier approach.
In principle, I wouldn't ask Pineda to engage his lower body more, if he's "hitting targets on flies at 1,000 yards."
Not that posters are suggesting that's what the M's do, but in 2006 couldn't you just see the M's roving coaches get excited about Pineda and overhaul his delivery to drop-and-drive? :- )
By the way, Austin Bibens-Dirkx had a 50:9 control last year, thanks for axing.
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2. If Pineda has an inverted W at the top, and if an inverted W is a risk for shoulder injury, then I guess the good news would be that Pineda's (reported) type of delivery puts the pressure on the elbow rather than the shoulder.
Maddux, Catfish, super-control RH guys like that, do you associate them with shoulder injuries?
Of course, if Pineda (or Felix, for that matter) were scheduled for Tommy John tomorrow, it would surprise exactly nobody.
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3. As a general principle, the Oakland A's have (evidently) had good results with pitcher health because they deploy pitchers, rather than throwers.
Great K/BB ratio, in and of itself, is a pretty cool predictor for future health. All pitchers are risk indicators, but I'm even more worried about a guy who hasn't learned how to pitch, than one who has.
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4. I would be surprised to see Pineda achieving 8:1 control ratios with a violent, jerk-the-shoulder-around-the-corner, accelerate-too-suddenly, max-effort kind of motion.
But like the man says, it will be nice to find some vids. I'm sure the posters weren't hallucinating, and the pics (not vids) I've seen on the net do look a bit funky.
Pineda's elbows sit high, he gets his power from above the waist ... more to the point, it's just not especially graceful-looking, in Maddux fashion. Check the awkward angle of his mitt in the photo above. Just quibbling...
Wouldn't surprise if, at 20, Pineda had to muscle the front shoulder, considering the high CG you see here.
Am not analyzing, just chatting. But if Pineda is muscling his acceleration a little, my first question would be whether he could benefit from leaning back and reaching to CF, as Haren and Felix do. Whatever you do, don't lower his CG when he's hitting spots like he is...
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It's interesting to hear that Michael Pineda throws mostly with his arm, in the Maddux-Catfish-Haren mold. The M's response to his elbow soreness in 2009, as usual, was to shut him down at the first sign of pain, even if it be 50 innings after the start of the year.
Not many 20-year-old pitchers make it to 25. Hopefully Pineda's K/BB will see him through :- )
Cheers,
Dr D