Pitching Mechanics

Mike Pelfrey Pitched with Rotator Cuff Strain

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A little tidbit in the Daily News:

“I had a strained rotator cuff and a strained posterior capsule almost the whole season,” Pelfrey told the Daily News Thursday

Further …

Pelfrey said the Mets did not pressure him into pitching through the injury, and that he did not consider it a risk. So he took a pain-killing injection in his shoulder before every start, and pushed through.

Remember his slump last year, which he described as a “dead arm phase”?

We challenged that here at MetsToday, mainly because

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Is Jenrry Mejia a Good or Bad Example of Mets Minor League System?

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Hard-throwing Jenrry Mejia symbolizes what is possible from the minor league system organized, maintained, and overseen by Omar Minaya. But is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Mejia was signed by the Mets out of the Dominican Republic at the tender age of 17 — an age when most youngsters in the USA are high school juniors or just beginning their senior year. I think it’s far to say that a 17-year-old can be taught many things about the game of baseball, and that a young man of that age is perfectly capable of changing his habits, approach, and mechanics. I make this statement not by guesswork but from experience — both by adjusting my own as well as by helping others change their own. In fact, from my first-hand experience, it is possible to completely overhaul an athlete’s style, mechanics, and thought process as late as age 21; it’s not easy, but it’s possible. The older an athlete gets, the more ingrained certain habits become, and thus the more difficult it is to “break” those habits and re-learn correct ones. That’s why, generally speaking, you want to begin teaching an athlete at a young age — the younger, the better.

In the case of 17-year-old Jenrry Mejia, the Mets had a golden opportunity to develop a raw, exciting talent — to mold him as they see fit, into what they believe is the ideal pitcher.

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A Stiff Neck Could Be Good for Pelfrey

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Mike Pelfrey was bumped from his Friday night start in San Francisco due to a stiff neck he suffered on the cross-country plane ride to the Left Coast. Ironically, I would argue that a stiff neck is exactly what Big Pelf needs to return to his first-half form. Well, maybe more a stiff back than a stiff neck.

We briefly touched on the subject of Pelfrey’s mechanical issues prior to the All-Star Exhibition, seeking to dispel the “dead arm” myth. Let’s take a look at more video stills to compare and contrast.

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Pelfrey’s Dead Arm Explained

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Mike Pelfrey is not struggling with a “dead arm” issue, despite what he thinks and despite what the Mets’ dinosaurs coaching staff would like us to believe. If Mike Pelfrey has a problem that is affecting his performance, it is a mechanical flaw that has crept up here and there sporadically since last spring. It’s … Read more

Warthen and Ojeda See the Same Things About Niese

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From yours truly on MetsToday, in the Game 13 post: It appears as though his arm slot has dropped from straight overhand to more three-quarter, which can be a better angle for getting movement, but takes bite away from his best pitch, the curveball. That angle also was causing him to get “under” the ball, … Read more

Maine Will Revert to Old Ways

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Believe it or not, the Mets had a communications breakdown prior to last night’s ballgame. To get the full story, listen to Rich Coutinho’s report on 1050ESPNRadio’s “Baseball Tonight” (Coutinho comes on at the tail end, during the last 10 minutes or so). The gist of it was this: When asked if Maine would remain … Read more