Pitcher Analysis: Bronson Arroyo

That’s a good way to start this analysis off.  The stupid leg kick of Bronson Arroyo.  Question is:  Does it make the rest of his mechanics stupid?  And does the stupid equal wrong?  These are the questions I set out to answer.

The Goofy

Watch the video above.  Aint that goofy?  Sooooooooooo weird.

So he kicks his leg out straight in front of him.  I know it’s weird.  But it’s not necessarily bad.  Potential problem yes.  But as long as the ball is doing what it’s supposed to than there really isn’t anything to worry about.

The Good

Strangely enough, after such a weird beginning, Arroyo does a lot right.  So really Bronson Arroyo is a bit of a poster boy for good mechanics, minus that beginning glitch.

I’ll just checklist the good stuff.

1. Aside from the goofiness of the beginning of the kick, he gets the knee nice and high.  I like this because it makes it easier to get good timing with the next thing.
2. The break of the hands comes at the moment the body begins to move forward.  This is essential to setting things up the rest of the wind up and delivery.
3. The arm is swung behind the body versus dropped and brought up.  This controls loading rate and maintains proper timing toward delivery.
4. Nice long stride with the GS leg that lands on a bent knee versus a straight knee.  A straight knee kills the kinetic chain and of course puts unnecessary stress on the knee.
5. The elbow goes through a nice smooth loading stage.
6. I can draw a straight line from the finger tips in one arm to the finger tips in the other as the PAS arm travels through the arm slot.
7. The GS leg is re-straightened  at the point of delivery allowing all the energy generated to be transfered to the ball.

The Bad

Arroyo doesn’t do much wrong.  But there are a couple of minor problems.

1. When the shoulders are loaded he brings the elbow of his PAS arm above shoulder level.  Since he has a pretty smooth loading rate and doesn’t over load this isn’t a huge issue.
2. The glove doesn’t end up in a proper position.  Not a mechanical issue, but I don’t like my pitchers to end up with a liner in the face.

While weird mechanics are in fact…weird.  It doesn’t mean that they are necessarily bad.  Every delivery has small dangers but mechanically speaking, Arroyo’s aren’t anything to be particularly worried about.

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