Uh oh! Stephen Strasburg is injured.

frankhardy

He may have to have Tommy John surgery.

Ok, I was fibbing just a little bit. However, he wouldn't be the first or the last prospect to get injured. Why in the world would someone pay thousands upon thousands of dollars for a card of his is beyond my comprehension.

Is anybody familiar with the "inverted W" aspect of pitching mechanics? If you are one of those idiots bidding on the Strasburg 1/1 card, you might ought to take a look at this. I have known about the "inverted W" for a year or two now. As soon as I saw Strasburg throw a pitch, I thought, "Uh, oh! He may be injury prone. The bottom line is that his mechanics are much like Mark Prior. They both use the "inverted W", which means the elbow comes up higher than his shoulder which creates a timing problem and puts too much strain on the elbow and the shoulder.

These 3 links will explain what I am talking about.


The first link explains the "inverted W". The Inverted W


The second link gives analysis of Stephen Strasburg. Stephen Strasburg Analysis


The third link gives analysis of several pitchers who have good mechanics, borderline mechanics, and bad mechanics. Not surprisingly. Chris Carpenter has bad mechanics and he stays injured. Different Pitchers

kcballboy

Instead of calling it the "Inverted W" wouldn't it just be easier to call it the "M"

frankhardy

<< <i>Instead of calling it the "Inverted W" wouldn't it just be easier to call it the "M" >>



I thought of that too.

sportscardtheory

Great links... uncalled-for thread title.

frankhardy

<< <i>Great links... uncalled for thread title. >>




Why? Are you the high bidder on the 1/1 and did it give you a heart palpitation?

Nothing wrong with demonstrating absurdity by being absurd.

itzagoner

someone smack Shane upside the head for that title.

now, here's the good part.....at least one well-known private pitching coach has made similar observations and the reason i know this is because he also trains my son.....although you won't find much info about their relationship, Dominic Johnson (son of Deron) did work with Strasburg for a period of time while S.S. attended San Diego State and these days he may cite him as an example while training other young pitchers, but when the discussion of arm slotting comes along, there are varying factors involved and occasionally you stumble across someone who seemingly defies all the things we always thought were right.

Dr. Mike Marshall certainly will not care for this conjecture.

so yes, we are concerned about duration as it relates to Strasburg, because history tells us that bad slotting shortens careers.

oh, was this a card thread?

minnesotahusker

As for the auto'd Strasburg card, the seller will never see the money from that auction. Too many yahoos messing with the auction.

frankhardy

<< <i>
oh, was this a card thread? >>




Sort of. I did mention the crazy auction.

Morgoth

Interesting stuff. It seems like his mechanics are a little more in flux and doesnt always make the inverted W. I wonder if he will eventually be taught how to consistently not rush his delivery.

itzagoner

<< <i>

<< <i>
oh, was this a card thread? >>




Sort of. I did mention the crazy auction. >>



indeed, it's at almost a million bucks.

wtf?

and now that i examined the card a little bit, it appears his elbow IS above the shoulder!

metsfan

Interesting read. Can't Strasburg just make small changes to his mechanics?

frankhardy

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>
oh, was this a card thread? >>




Sort of. I did mention the crazy auction. >>



indeed, it's at almost a million bucks.

wtf?

and now that i examined the card a little bit, it appears his elbow IS above the shoulder! >>



I didn't catch that. I had to look. If it is not above his shoulder at that instant, it was a few milliseconds before the photo was snapped.

itzagoner

<< <i>Interesting read. Can't Strasburg just make small changes to his mechanics? >>



he could, but therein lies the potential for a psychological albatross to emerge.....when a pitcher gets used to a certain method of delivery, it is difficult to simply alter it based on instruction.....quite often, the first detectable changes will be directly attributed to pain or injury, whether in the shoulder, elbow, or any other part of the body which gets affected by poor mechanics.....then, the period of adjustment begins and eventually a trip to surgeon's table.

metsfan

<< <i>

<< <i>Interesting read. Can't Strasburg just make small changes to his mechanics? >>



he could, but therein lies the potential for a psychological albatross to emerge.....when a pitcher gets used to a certain method of delivery, it is difficult to simply alter it based on instruction.....quite often, the first detectable changes will be directly attributed to pain or injury, whether in the shoulder, elbow, or any other part of the body which gets affected by poor mechanics.....then, the period of adjustment begins and eventually a trip to surgeon's table. >>



Good points. Seemed this may have applied to Jose Reyes a few years ago, Reyes kept having hamstring problems, so the Mets changed his running style, and he got hurt again (and he never looked right running the bases!). Of course Reyes is not a pitcher, but it probably applies here.

fiveniner

Lets not judge the young fellow as a phenmon yet.Like someone mentioned Prior was the real deal for a brief time,David Clyde,Lew Krause,Karl Spooner and no one was better than Herb Score and recently Rick Pocello had to be sent down after a terrific Rookie season.Hopefull for those that have invested big $ on his cards will make out all right.Being old school maybe I shoud keep my nose out of thread however I see more losses than wins in this type of collecting or chasing.

BunchOBull

It's an inverted W if you think about his chest being the center point. He's rushing his delivery, so he pulls back hand and bows his chest to get maximum torque. The result is a glove hand and pitching hand that are nearly behind his body; thus the inverted W.

M wouldn't really qualify.

edited to add, think of it as him flapping his wings.

shagrotn77

<< <i>Great links... uncalled-for thread title. >>



My thoughts exactly.

frankhardy

<< <i>

<< <i>Great links... uncalled-for thread title. >>



My thoughts exactly. >>




I just thought it was an attention grabber!

gonzer

A lot of fodder for discussion. Thanks for the post frank.

epatmythes

What most people often forget, and it only get discussed by experts/sports-types on seemingly rare occassions, is that fact that the human body itself really isn't designed to throw overhand! In reality, every pitcher is injury-prone... it's more a question of when, not if. The more you throw, the faster you throw, the harder you throw... probably just speeds up the injury process.

billwaltonsbeard

ndleo

Kerry Wood had a violent motion. Prior had one of the smoothest motions. What killed both of their arms is "DustyBakeritis".

forthe4unofit

I wonder if he would avoid injury if he pitched underhand?

CNote

Do people think Dusty Baker ruins pitchers because of the # of pitches or innings he lets them toss? If so, I gotta disagree and look at the conditioning of this athletes.

Bigjohn69

this just off the wire, albert pujols is accused of child molestation, out on 1 million dollar bail,,,, wow

































just kidding,,,, now that would hurt a card collection more than saying a premo pitcher whos getting record breaking amounts for his cards,, rumors like that would hurt this hobby ide think, right wrong?

just think the bidding stalled right after you posted this thread, now he may never make it over a million, shame on you for the rumor spreading