On Baseball

THE FIX SEASON 2 EPISODE 12

Two injuries are discussed in depth by Joe Janish and baseball pitching motion expert Angel Borrelli. First, the broken elbow suffered by Oakland Athletics pitcher Jarrod Parker, who was rehabbing from his second Tommy John surgery. Second, Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Smyly‘s shoulder injury — Angel goes into detail to explain a labrum tear and how the role of the labrum and shoulder in the pitching motion. Finally, Angel offeres two baseball pitching velocity tips; the first involving the wrist, the second focused on the importance of the glove arm and how it controls rotation. Refer to photos below that illustrate the tips described.

The Fix Season 2 Episode 10

What’s it like to be the parent of one of the top high school players in the country? How do you protect the arm of a star pitcher from being over-used and abused by overzealous coaches? When do professional baseball scouts and college coaches start calling and visiting your home, and how do you manage them? How do you decide whether to accept a four-year scholarship or sign a million-dollar contract from a MLB team? What can a parent do to keep his/her son’s life balanced and prevent burnout? How can you keep your son’s feet on the ground while he reaches for the stars?

All these questions and more are answered by Tom DeMers, father of College Park High School (Pleasant Hill, California) senior and top-rated pitching prospect Joe DeMers.

THE FIX: Season 2 Episode 8

In this episode, Angel and Joe discuss the myriad arm injuries suffered by MLB pitchers in the first week of the season — Angel provides several reasons why those injuries occurred. In particular, they analyze the sudden elbow injury suffered by New York Mets pitcher Jenrry Mejia. During which, Angel talks about the rules of the bones and explains what a journalist might mean by “slamming the elbow.” In the final segment, Angel offers a pitching velocity tip, illustrated by the photos below.

Jon Niese NOT getting over the front leg (left) vs. Masahiro Tanaka successfully getting over the front leg (right):

Two angles of Niese NOT getting over the front leg:

THE FIX: Season 2 Episode 7

As The Fix podcast closes in on 5,000 all-time listens, Angel and Joe go back to the very first two episodes, which focused on Angel doing detective work to diagnose the nagging shoulder problems of New York Mets pitcher Jon Niese (see Jonathon Niese’s Shoulder Injury Explained, Part 1, and Part 2). More than a year later, Niese came to the exact same conclusion as Angel — a mechanical adjustment to his stride alleviates the pain and, hopefully, will prevent further injury to his shoulder. Additionally, Joe and Angel further investigate Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander‘s triceps injury, with Angel discussing pitching in pain and explaining the process and systems of getting injured pitchers from shutdown mode back to the mound.

Finally, refer to the image above when Angel begins discussing the velocity tip at the end of the podcast.

Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver won 311 games and struck out over 3600 batters in his 20-year MLB career, relying on guts, guile, and pinpoint command of four pitches — including a mid-90s fastball. Could “Tom Terrific” have been even better? Hard to fathom, but baseball pitching motion expert Angel Borrelli points out a flaw in Seaver’s classic “drop and drive” delivery that robbed him of MPH. What was that flaw? Listen to Season 2, Episode 4 of The Fix to find out. Continue reading “Could Tom Seaver Have Been Even Better?”