MLB.com has him listed as the starter on Sunday. He's only got 24.1 innings at AAA, although he's pitched well, and the RR website doesn't even have him on the 40 man roster.Does anyone have more detail or perhaps have seen him pitch? Presumably he takes Altuve's place on the 40 and 25 man roster and the team goes forward with 13 pitchers, but does this mean McHugh is back to the pen?
Just my two curiosities from watching Martin on Sunday:1. He works from the stretch. Is this an after effect of starting out as a reliever?2. Damn, he works fast. Fun to watch.
No. He is winding up with no one on. His stance fooled you. He uses a very efficient, compact windup.
There was no MLB player with the first name of Corbin for 115 years. Now RHPs named Corbin have made debuts in consecutive years. Corbin Burnes appeared in 30 games for Milwaukee last year (7-0, 2.61 ERA). There have been 3 players with the last name of Corbin: Archie, Patrick, and Ray.
This has been a trend for some years now. Some guys have very little motion in their windup. Not a lot of guys left with the old step back, hands above the head type of thing. McHugh is that way and so is Lance McCullers. Verlander is an in between guy.
My observation is that it is more of a trend with the Astros, though it might still be a pitcher-specific approach. I wonder if their analytics folks have determined that the traditional windup is either wasted motion, or just a complicating factor for repetition. The simplified windup was also employed by Whitley.
The simplified motion means...well, less motion, especially in the shoulders and head. It keeps them on the same plane throughout the windup, and helps the pitcher focus on the target. It's also easier to repeat a simple motion, which in turn helps with command. I don't know if the Astros teach it specifically or if it's an individual thing for each pitcher. My guess is it's the latter, and if a pitcher is having trouble with command, simplifying his windup motion is one of the first things to try and help.
I think it may be more about repeating the motion than about the eyes. There should be no difficulty with keeping the eyes on the target in either motion. I used the hands above the head (everyone did), and my dad insisted I never take my eyes off the target. Some pitchers look at their feet or toward a base or to Heaven (Valenzuela). A pitcher rotates his body with either method, and keeping his head steady on the target should be easy either way.
I don't know if the Astros teach it specifically or if it's an individual thing for each pitcher. My guess is it's the latter, and if a pitcher is having trouble with command, simplifying his windup motion is one of the first things to try and help.
This is a good thread, I love learning about pitching from you guys. Stuff I never noticed before, I now look for because of info passed along from Jim, HH, Doyce, and a few others. Even Mr Happy.
Wow, I wouldn't have expected my name here. I appreciate the compliment. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
You're not as dumb as you look. *rimshot*
I've been told it's more about the shoulders, and keeping them in the same plane. Just helps with release point. But I was never a pitcher so I don't know how much that's a factor. I can recognize some of the common mechanical mistakes like overstriding or dropping the elbow pretty quickly, but like Tim McCarver, the biggest thing I know about pitching is it's hard to hit. I agree that repeating your motion is probably the biggest factor.
I personally, in my very brief pitching career, found it much easier to focus on the catcher's mitt during my windup/motion than looking anywhere else. The only time that wasn't true was being a lefty pitcher with a runner on first. In those cases, even I didn't know if I was going to throw to 1st or home when I started my pitching motion.Apparently it caused some problems with base runners.
You rang? Martin's approach is very similar to what I used to teach. I believe that every movement in a windup should have a purpose. I very much favor an Occam's Razor approach. While I understand the desire to interpose more motion in an attempt to either hide the ball or deceive the hitter, I have always maintained that the most important aspect of pitching is balance. It's essential to be able to repeat a delivery, and in my opinion, the more motion you have, the higher the likelihood that you'll have mechanical problems or trouble repeating a delivery. Remember that I primarily worked with beginning pitchers.
Martin down, Guduan up. That indicates Framber to the rotation.
Wow! Shocking.
