NOTE: This is re-posted from MetsToday.com

A few days ago, in the comments section, I said this:

I wouldn’t be so quick to count on Johan’s return. If his recent bullpen session is any indication, his mechanics are still flawed and he’ll be re-injuring his shoulder sooner rather than later.

Usually, it feels good to be “right” about something. In this case, however, it doesn’t feel so good at all, after hearing the news that Johan Santana has had a setback and will be examined by doctors in New York tomorrow for “lingering discomfort” in his left shoulder.

Granted, setbacks occur all the time — and in fact are expected — during the rehabilitation process, particularly after a major surgery such as the one Johan received. But what bothers me is that his shoulder injury most likely occurred because of a flaw in his mechanics that began to become a habit at some point since he joined the Mets (or possibly just prior). The flaw was identified by our friend the Sport Kinesiologist Angel Borrelli last year — prior to Santana’s injury. When SNY and MetsBlog posted video of Johan’s bullpen session and recent rehab start in St. Lucie, I saw some things that didn’t look quite right to me and consulted with Angel — after all, I’m just a pitching coach and not a scientist, and therefore not qualified to evaluate the motion of the human body. Angel looked at the footage and agreed that there were some inconsistencies with Johan’s delivery — both from pitch to pitch in the rehab assignment and also in comparison to what she has seen from Johan in the past (Angel has been studying Santana’s delivery going back to his Minnesota years, because he previously did many things correctly and efficiently; his motion was a model for other pitchers to follow). Unfortunately, Angel confirmed that the flaw has not been corrected. Here is her analysis:

Take a look at the photos of him below (the first is from 2008, the second is from a week ago). In the first photo, even though I can’t see his feet, because of how level his belt-line looks, I think his front foot has landed…which means that his pitching arm has excessive internal rotation for the phase of the motion in which he is in. This means stress at the level of the shoulder. It would also reduce his velocity big time.

In the second and most recent photo, it shows the same problem — but worse. He not only still has excessive internal rotation, but because the elbow is so much higher than the shoulder, he is now running the risk of supraspinatus impingement. In fact, this is probably what is causing the shoulder discomfort.

Because I have seen so many variations of his pitching arm, I am thinking that his mechanics are inconsistent because he is in pain. It is obvious that he has not been given a clear directive of what he needs to do to resolve this issue and return to his former greatness.

So in other words, Johan’s flaw has not been corrected. I wouldn’t be surprised if it hasn’t even been identified. Part of this ignorance could be due to a common thought process throughout baseball with experienced superstars: Johan Santana “knows himself” and his body better than anyone, so there is a tendency to leave him alone. However, if someone doesn’t step in and help Johan make this correction, he will continue to damage his shoulder, continue to experience pain, and likely will be unable to return to the mound this year. In fact, there’s a possibility he won’t ever return to Major League form if he doesn’t get his mechanics fixed.

Some day — hopefully soon — MLB teams are going to recognize the reality that pitching coaches need help from qualified scientists in understanding and evaluating pitchers’ motions. It doesn’t mean teams don’t need pitching coaches, nor that a scientist should replace the coach. To the contrary — it should be understood that pitching a baseball is a complicated, often dangerous activity, and there are resources available that can minimize the risks and keep pitchers healthy and performing at their peak ability.

As Angel adds,

What is really sad to me…this could have been a simple fix if someone had responded to his change in performance (a decrease in velocity) as a sign that something was wrong with this previously fantastic pitcher. The performance was giving the clues, the mechanics would have explained the problem, and a solution could have been easily had by his making a tiny adjustment.

It’s sad to me too. What makes this all the more sad is that Johan is only one of many, many pitchers — professional and amateur — who are not being properly evaluated and educated. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Chipper Jones goes deep

“Do you swing on 3-0 counts?”

I replied, “only once in the past four years”.

“And what happened?”

“I … uh … hit a grand slam”.

“Well there you go.”

Unfortunately for me, we had that discussion a month after my college career ended. Though, the advice did help me hit a few four-baggers over the years in semipro ball.

I’m not sure where or when the thought of automatically taking on 3-0 entered my head. It may have been as early as little league, and simply stuck. What I can say for certain is that I can count on one hand the number of times I swung on 3-0 counts from age 10 through 22. And in retrospect, that was a bad approach.

Now, I’m not suggesting that all players should always swing on 3-0. In fact, most hitters should take a pitch on 3-0 most of the time. But there are definitely situations where swinging on 3-0 makes sense.

First, it must be an appropriate decision based on the game situation. Generally, you want to be already winning and looking to tack on runs. Though, if your team is either tied or behind by one or two runs, it might also make sense — IF there are runners on base AND you are a superior power hitter. Which leads us to the second factor: you must either be a fabulous hitter for average and/or a serious power hitter. And you must be honest with your self-evaluation; it’s one thing to think you are a power hitter, and it’s another to be a proven power hitter. If your slugging percentage is .475 or higher, then you can consider yourself a power hitter. If your batting average is .325 or higher, then you are a fabulous hitter for average. In some cases, it can make sense to swing away if you are “only” an above-average hitter, but generally, if you are swinging on 3-0, you better be an advanced hitter, and preferably someone who can drive the ball for extra bases.

Third, you absolutely, positively, MUST get the pitch you want to hit, AND, you must get a good, fluid swing on the ball. Part of this is paying attention to the pitcher and seeing what his control is like, and what he does on 3-0 counts. If a pitcher is having a hard time getting the ball into the strike zone, even on 3-0, you might not want to be hacking. Though, it all depends on what area of the zone you hit best, and where the pitcher tends to be on that day. If he tends to be belt-high and outside, and that’s where you drive the ball, then zone for that spot and if you get it, hack away. At the same time, you must have the discipline to let a pitch go if it isn’t perfect, even if it may be a strike — because you still have two more chances.

Also, take note of the speed of the pitches when the pitcher is behind. Many, many pitchers will lob in an easy four-seam fastball — some call it a “batting practice fastball” — on 3-0. It should be a very hittable pitch, but if you are, say, geared up for an 85-MPH fastball and the pitcher lobs one in at 75, you will be way ahead of it. At the same time, if you have seen the pitcher “aim” in a slow ball on 3-0 counts in the past, then you can sit back and wait on that same pitch again.

Why do you swing on 3-0? Because very often, it can be as easy as swinging in batting practice. At least 90% of the time, you will get a meatball with which you can “tee off” and shoot into a gap or send over the fence. Your batting average on 3-0 should be well over .500, and you should consider swinging if you are a superior hitter and there are runners on base.

Gaining success swinging on 3-0 requires that you be an excellent hitter, the discipline to lay off what isn’t your pitch, a relaxed swing, and a situation that makes sense. It is an aggressive play, and some consider it risky, but rarely do big dividends result from low-risk plays. The bottom line is that you must be successful when you execute it, or you must be prepared to handle the criticism if you fail and have a good reason to make the attempt in the first place.

By the way, this post was inspired by a tweet from my friend JamesK at AmazinAvenue.

Should MLB Change the Rules to Protect Catchers?

There has been some buzz by some suggesting that Major League Baseball should change the rules in some way that would protect catchers from suffering similar injuries in the future. For example, perhaps make it illegal to purposely run into the catcher. From Giants manager Bruce Bochy:

“I do think we need to consider changing the rules there a little bit, because the catcher’s so vulnerable,” Bochy said. “There are so many who have gotten hurt — and not just a little bit. I mean, careers ended or shortened.”

Bochy was a former catcher himself, though I don’t know if he’s drawing this conclusion based on his playing experience or because his superstar player is out for the season. I really, really doubt he — or anyone else — would have reacted with such passion had this happened to, say, Eli Whiteside.

I challenge Bochy to name as many as five MLB catchers in the last 30 years who have had their “careers ended or shortened” as a result of a home plate collision. Personally, I can’t think of one. The catcher who everyone remembers getting clocked and having his “career ruined” is Ray Fosse, who was steamrolled by Pete Rose in an All-Star Game (back when players actually PLAYED All-Star Games, rather than just went through the motions) and as a result, had his shoulder separated. That happened in 1970. Do you know when Fosse played his last MLB season? 1979. In fact, Fosse returned to play two days later, caught another 40 or so games, and earned a Gold Glove while batting .307 for the season. Fosse’s career eventually went downhill after that season, but it had nothing to do with Pete Rose plowing him; Fosse had several other injuries afterward and stopped hitting.

But I digress … should MLB change the rules? Absolutely, positively, NOT. Catchers can (and should) learn to block the plate in such a way that they can both prevent injury and the runner from scoring. In most cases, the runner is the one who is most vulnerable to injury if there is a home-plate collision, because the catcher has equipment protecting himself. And the truth is, there is already a rule protecting the catcher (and all fielders, for that matter) — it is 7.08:

Any runner is out when –
(a) (1) He runs more than three feet away from his baseline to avoid being tagged unless his action is to avoid interference with a fielder fielding a batted ball.

So, as long as the catcher is at least three feet away from the baseline, he can’t be blindsided by an incoming runner. If you can’t see someone coming at you, you are vulnerable. If you can, you can take steps to minimize danger. Is it possible to still get injured, even if you see the runner coming and you have set yourself into a safe position? Of course, but it happens rarely and is part of the game. Which leads us to the next question ..

Could the Injury Have Been Avoided? And/Or, Was Posey Improperly Positioned?

I’ve taken a look at the video replay — which provides several angles — many times, and I still can’t see exactly how Posey injured himself so gruesomely. It was a “bang-bang” play, meaning, ball and runner arrived almost simultaneously, so the collision may have hid the moment that caused the damage. To me, it looks like Posey’s left leg was injured after the impact of the collision, when it rolled underneath the weight of his body. Why did his body move that way so forcefully? Because Posey wasn’t in a strong position to withstand the impact of the runner coming into him. Why wasn’t he in a strong position? Because he caught the ball with his left knee already dropped to the ground, and he pivoted from that knee toward the incoming runner to apply the tag. If you watch the replay, you can see he “didn’t have a leg to stand on”, and by turning his body to make the tag, he had momentum moving that way and nothing to brace himself from the impact of the runner coming into him. Ideally, he catches the ball with both feet firmly planted on the ground, then either steps into a strong position to face the runner head-on — such as an offensive lineman in football might do — or, apply a swipe tag (which is probably safer). Once Posey dropped to his knees, he had no power, strength, foundation — nothing — to keep control of his body, and as a result was completely controlled by the runner / the collision.

Does that mean it’s Buster’s own fault that he broke his leg? Well, yeah, kind of. But I can understand, in the heat of the moment, why he did what he did; he basically was operating on instinct, which told him to get down to stop the ball and turn and apply the tag as quickly as possible. The unfortunate part of this is that his instincts were wrong and dangerous. Could he have had better instincts? Possibly. If a catcher is taught to keep his feet on throws to the plate, and he spends hours and hours of correct repetition to instill that, then maybe the catcher doesn’t do what Posey did in that situation. But it’s really hard to say, because sometimes an athlete has to “improvise” — you just hope that the improvisation still relies on safe technique.

Should Buster Posey Move To Another Position?

I don’t think so, and I hope such a decision isn’t made. Posey’s injury was highly unusual — a freak accident, if you will. Moving him to another position will not necessarily make him less vulnerable to future freak accidents. Outfielders injure themselves running into walls and diving for fly balls; middle infielders get their knees taken out from under them by baserunners; corner infielders can sustain major injuries by falling down dugout steps or going over railings in pursuit of foul pop flies. Hitters can get injured by pitched balls; baserunners get hurt from sliding. The bottom line is this: injuries happen, no matter where you play on the field. It’s part of the game. Do catchers get more knicks, dings, and bruises? Sure. Do they suffer more injuries that prevent them from participating? I’m not so sure; check the disabled list on any given week and note how many catchers are on it — I would guess that there aren’t any more backstops than infielders, outfielders, or pitchers.

Then there’s the theory that all the bumps and bruises a catcher suffers can affect his hitting. To that, I can attest, is somewhat true. We catchers get sprained and broken fingers, which can hamper a swing. But again, those types of injuries happen to other players as well. Jose Reyes, shortstop for the Mets, for example, frequently has finger injuries that occur as a result of his hard headfirst slides. Additionally, there is the thought that a catcher wears down over the course of a season, and that affects his offense. Well, yet again, that is an issue that happens to other position players as well — it all depends on the conditioning of the player.

Whenever I hear that a team wants to move a catcher out from behind home plate to protect his offensive skills, or “extend his career”, I want to scream the names Johnny Bench, Ted Simmons, Mike Piazza, Carlon Fisk, Thurman Munson, Pudge Rodriguez, Yogi Berra, Gary Carter, Jason Varitek, Lance Parrish, A.J. Pierzynski, Sandy Alomar, Terry Steinbach, Bill Dickey, Roy Campanella, Mickey Cochrane, and dozens of other catchers who had long careers and had success both behind and at the plate.

Personally, I think that if Buster Posey can physically return to catching — and it sounds like that will happen, eventually — then he should. The catching position has become a dark hole in terms of offense, because teams are too quick to move young, good-hitting catchers away from the position to “protect” them. Those same teams then lament that “there are no good-hitting catchers these days”. Gee, I wonder why?

So those are my thoughts. What about yours? Post your opinion on the Buster Posey incident in the comments.

Many of you may remember, or have seen the highlight of, “the catch” made by Swoboda against the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series. What you may not know is Ron was a converted infielder who struggled with the outfield in his early days as a pro. However, with hard work and dedication, he transformed himself into an everyday MLB outfielder and the man who made one of the most legendary snares in New York baseball history.

Special thanks to MintPros for arranging this conversation.

By the way, you can purchase a framed and autographed photo of “The Catch” through the Daily News (a great holiday gift idea!). It is a limited edition commemorating the 40th anniversary of the event and the Mets’ first World Series win. A portion of the proceeds go to the Mets Foundation, which funds and promotes educational, social, and athletic programs, as well as other charitable causes.

The conversation with Ron Swoboda can be heard below, and you can also subscribe to the OnBaseball.com podcast feed through iTunes.

Nobody of course, unless you’re attempting a sacrifice bunt!

But there are common problems among hitters — even the pros — that can sap you of your power. Both players and coaches should be aware of these minor, correctable flaws.

Take a look at the video below of Mets minor league prospect Reese Havens, while taking batting practice in the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2007 (courtesy of SaberScouting, who does an excellent job of breaking down his entire swing):

Now take a look at more recent footage of Havens in the Arizona Fall League in November 2009 (courtesy of Toby Hyde of MetsMinorLeagueBlog):

It looks like a pretty nice swing, doesn’t it? Smooth and quick, straight to the ball. I’m a Mets fan and Havens is someone I’m very high on for his old-school approach, leadership skills, and all-around ability as a ballplayer. He’s moving quickly up the ladder but isn’t hitting with as much power as some hoped. So I took a closer look at his swing and called in the eagle eye of Dan Gilligan, a former All-American, pro scout, college coach, and currently a highly respected hitting instructor for the Pro Player Academy in Hawthorne, NJ.

Joe: after watching your videos about striding against the front leg, and keeping the weight back with the hands, it looks to me like this kid would generate more power if he didn’t “leak forward” with the front side and his hands when his front foot lands. Are you seeing what I’m seeing?

Dan: It looks to me like he starts opening that front side a shade too early, and the hands start going forward as his foot lands, rather than staying back in the launch. Because of that, he’s losing some of the power from his hips.

Joe: Frankie Piliere, when commenting on Havens’ Cape Cod video, specifically pointed out : “There is also a huge separation between where his hips come forward against the front leg and his hands, which remain completely back.”

Dan: Piliere does a great job of breaking down the BP swing, but I disagree on the separation. I agree it’s there, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a good thing, because his weight is shifting along with the front leg and his head is moving forward. Though, it’s much more pronounced in the recent video from Arizona.

In the Cape Cod BP session, Havens was for the most part staying back until contact. As Piliere points out, his head doesn’t move much until contact or slightly after — but then it pushes forward and up, and his weight goes over his front side after contact. I generally dont like this in the swing, in fact I dont like any forward movement after the front foot drops, because the hips can’t rotate efficiently while the body is transferring weight. In game conditions — such as we see in the recent AFL video — this action can cause the hitter to rush forward or “race to the ball” which can cut off the power of the hip rotation.

Joe: This is what we call “blowing through the stop sign”, right?

Dan: Yes. Normally you see good hitters drift BACK after contact, because they are rebounding off a firm front leg. However in Havens’ case, he’s drifting over and past the front leg — so he’s “pushing” the ball rather than driving through it. And yes, we call this “running through the stop sign”.

Joe: Actually, after re-reading Piliere’s evaluation, he pretty much says the same thing:

“Havens has a great deal of head movement, more specifically toward the pitcher, than I would prefer. And, if you look closely toward the end of his swing, it comes up. That is a direct result of a lot of the upper body that he uses in hitting the ball. There’s lots of shoulder and upper body torque going on there. It may cost him a little power with his upper body drifting at the ball but he’s very good at getting to the ball and making contact simply using his hands.”

Dan: Exactly. In fact, you often see a good hitter’s head move back a little bit, rather than forward, as they brace themselves and rotate the hips.

Joe: Understood. Now what about those hands leaking forward?

Dan: In the Cape Cod video, Havens’ hands do leak just a bit as his top hand starts to “unwind” before launch. In other words his top hand should be a little more turned in towards his head at the launch position — or “cocked”. He is losing whip by unwinding his top hand early. Under the stress of game conditions a hitter may amplify his faults, so maybe this is where his hands break before his front foot drops as we see in the AFL video.

Joe: So are you seeing more of this amplification / loss of whip / hands moving forward too early in the second video from Arizona?

Dan: Absolutely. I call this a “false start”. Meaning, his hands get a head start and are moving forward before the front heel hits the ground. Again, there is no cocking of the wrists to start the swing, so the hands are already “en route” by the time that foot lands. How the heck does he adjust to off-speed pitches like that?

Joe: Beats me. That might be part of his problems so far in pro ball — I haven’t seen enough of him to say for sure.

Dan: There’s something else — he seems to be “jerking” everything. He pulls off the ball so much that in one of his swings (the fly ball to right in the AFL video) his back shoulder finishes a foot higher than his front shoulder — an indication that he’s upper-body dominant, and “muscling the ball” or “muscling up”. This problem is a direct result of the false start we discussed earlier.

An optimum swing displays a loose and relaxed upper half, which promotes whip and bat speed.

Reese Havens hits a homerun

Dan: Yes, definitely. For starters, he needs to relax and smooth out the upper body rather than “muscle up”. To correct the false start and leaking forward issue, he needs to keep his front side on the pitch longer. Instead of everything going to the ball at once, he needs to keep the hands back when the front foot comes down.

Joe: Let’s hope he gets this issue fixed — I want to see Reese mashing in Flushing some day soon!

You can learn more about hitting from Dan at DanGilliganHitting.com

Tyrone formerly held several front office positions in the Atlanta Braves organization — including Director of Baseball Operations and Director of Baseball Administration — before joining the Cleveland Indians in the role of professional scout.

In our conversation, Tyrone explains how a scout evaluates a ballplayer, what he looks for beyond a player’s baseball skills, how an amateur player can approach a scout, the different types of scouts you may encounter (they’re not all the same!), and many other aspects of the player-scout relationship. In addition, Tyrone also tells the secret of why Ryan Howard fell below the radar as a college junior and slipped to the fifth round of the June 2001 draft.

Listen to the conversation below. You can also subscribe to the OnBaseball.com podcast through iTunes.

Fritz was known for his outstanding control and quick pace, teaming with Mel Stottlemyre in the mid-1960s to early-1970s to anchor the top of the New York Yankees’ rotation. Fritz was the last Major League pitcher to throw 270+ innings and post a WHIP of under 1.00 (272 IP, 0.996 WHIP in 1969). He also remains the all-time (since 1900) best lefthanded control pitcher — he allowed a scant 1.7 walks per nine innings through over 2200 career innings pitched. He reveals some of the secrets to that great control in this podcast.

Fritz recently published a book called Mickey Mantle is Going to Heaven, which is available through MintPros, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble

Listen to the conversation below. You can also subscribe to the OnBaseball.com podcast through iTunes.

In the autum of 2009, however, that has changed, as A-Rod hit .365 with 6 homeruns in 50 postseason at-bats, a .500 OBP, and a 1.308 OPS in leading the New York Yankees to a World Series Championship.

So what’s changed?

He’s the same player … from the neck down. But above the neck is where Alex Rodriguez has improved — he’s now relaxed and focused, using many of the techniques learned while working with mental coach Jim Fannin.

In the last post you had the chance to hear me speak with Jim Fannin about some of those techniques, and the challenges of mental preparation for baseball.

Here are some of the tips or “takeaways” from the interview:

- No matter what the situation, the essence of your craft does not change. In other words, you use the same physical technique and concentration in “regular” and “pressure” situations

- Big games: sometimes you need to “spill” some energy — maybe jump up and down a few times to expel your energy if you feel a little too jacked up

- Batters: lock in to the release, forget about the pitcher

- Batters: Pick up the baseball within 6 feet after release, and then be sure to track it within the last two feet

- Batters: start learning to pick up the ball and the pitcher’s release in the on-deck circle

- Batters: EXPECT to hit the ball solidly – confidence is key

- Pitchers: prepare to retire the leadoff batter by getting the heart rate up and throwing the last few warmup pitches as if they were “game” pitches

- Pitchers: mentality should be to retire the leadoff guy every inning

- Pitchers: if tense, stressed, or nervous, slow down your heart rate by walking off the mound, taking a breath, unhinging your jaw, and focus on throwing through the target (see the target not the batter)

- The ultimate for all players is to have the same mindset in all situations

- Every great player uses the tools of visualization

- Visualization is applicable to every level down to little league

- Every human being spends 56 hours — 50% of their waking hours — daydreaming. Daydreaming is a form of visualization, but it is generally random and chaotic.

- Controlled visualization is proactive and specific – you are daydreaming about what you want.

- Most people visualize about what they don’t want — so you want to visualize what you want

- Coaches: the great coaches and teachers — no matter what the sport — are painting a picture of total positivity in the student’s mind.

- Coaches: using “don’t” in your instruction is completely ineffective – so eliminate it from your speech! Replace the “don’t” with a positive image

- All players who struggle with their mental mindset can improve — but they have to want to do it

If you want to listen to the podcast, you can find it here:
Jim Fannin On Baseball podcast

You can also subscribe to the OnBaseball.com podcast through iTunes.

I had the opportunity to discuss that topic and many others related to mental preparation for baseball with one of the leading experts on the subject, Jim Fannin.

Jim’s worked with 24 All-Stars over the years, including Alex Rodriguez, Casey Blake, Barry Zito, Carlos Delgado, Jim Thome, Orel Hershiser, Frank Thomas, Alex Cora, and many others.

You can learn more about Jim Fannin and the services he provides by visiting his website, JimFannin.com.

Listen to the conversation below. You can also subscribe to the OnBaseball.com podcast through iTunes.

Watch an example of Joe Mauer stealing the opposing catcher’s signs and relaying them to his teammate:

I do not advocate stealing signs below the high school level. In lower leagues, it is more important for players to be focusing on executing the fundamentals. Stealing signs — from the catcher or a coach — is an advanced technique that requires concentration and thinking. In addition, players and coaches should always be aware that someone may be watching, and therefore develop means to prevent their signs from being stolen.

We’ll get into the techniques on both sides in the future, but in the meantime if you have any suggestions for stealing signs or preventing the theft of signs, please post your comments.