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:
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.
