I’m just in awe of this guy. I’d like to here some of your observations about his mechanics…anything unique anyone has spotted…
They say he has long fingers…
He’s long past his power pitching days now… a total fineses pitcher … but a DOMINATING INTIMIDATING FINESSE PITCHER … that’s really something – to be a finesses pitcher who wracks up strikeouts !!
Take notice.
Recently saw Pedro pitch live last weekend. He carved up the Padres for 10k’s. Fastball wasn’t overpowering but his change up is nasty. He is just a smarter pitcher now. Pedro also has a long stride and sits into footplant really well. Something I am trying to work out with my son as we speak. He is not the same pitcher but most of the flame throwers rely on different pitches as they get older. David Cone is a prefect example. And yes Pedro does have relatively long fingers and big legs (hams) for a guy his height.
“sits into his footplant” well…
I kind of know what you mean … but what do you see him doing at footplant that is so good, specifically?
From what I see, he seems to land with the ball of the foot first and the knee bent a bit…
andrew you are correct. He has a very long stride and he does have a significant bend and footplant with the knee. The battle I am having lately with my son is to get that bend consitent. Sometimes he lands with a semi-stiff front leg. We are working on getting this down , something that Pedro obviously does well. I had an opportunity to see Pedro a while back warm up in Puerto Rico and he had shorts on. His legs through me off right off the bat. Huge thighs and hams compared to the rest of his body!
Pretty Obvious that GOD gave him a gift. He also is not the tallest guy in the world.
gees what a love fest!
Now I know what I sound like talking about Maddux.
What I know Pedro has better than any one, is ATTITUDE! DUDE!
David Wells is similar but will never be Pedro, but this guy just knows he’s gonna wipe you out. As a life long Cub fan I just wish he’d go back to the American League and hang out with Josh Beckett!
The long stride and a low 3/4 arm slot result in a low release point which allows him to work quite effectively high in the zone. He also tends to open a bit early and drag him arm a little bit. This along with the long fingers which actually bend back like some people’s thumbs allow him to get a lot of tail on his fastball. The tendency to open early and his relatively small size is probably what scared off some teams early in his career for fear that his arm wouldn’t last long.
I don’t pick him up opening early… though I do see the arm drag action he has … for some reason I think that arm drag action is a good thing, I gues because he’s not really whipping his arm with his arm, per say, he’s letting it come forward, being pulled by his core muscle group.