Dr. Yessis Sports Training Blog

In this past weekend’s paper it was brought out that Stephen Strasburg will have to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm. Could this injury have been prevented?

The answer to this with 90% certainty, is yes. The answer is not 100% mainly because there are always some external happenings that are beyond one’s control. The main point here is that many things could have been done to prevent injury and at the same time, enhance performance.
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Baseball team bullpens are becoming more important because teams now regulate how many innings or pitches a starting pitcher can throw. As a result they now have specialists who throw only for example, in the seventh inning or the eighth inning or are closers and only throw in the ninth inning.

Nolan Ryan disagrees with this and conditions his pitchers to go the distance. He disagrees with the modern trend or limiting what and how much a pitcher can do. He has proven to be successful in this method just as many teams say they are having greater success by limiting the number of pitches or innings pitched. Read more… »

In reading about Kevin Correia, baseball pitcher for the Padres, I felt both sad and angry. It’s a story that we find all too often regardless of the team or league. After what can be considered a good season last year and a good start this year, he is now struggling.

This in itself is sad but my frustration and anger comes from the inability of the team and coaches to find out what is wrong and get him back to his winning ways. The knowledge and methodology is already available. It only needs implementation! Read more… »

The hype and stories regarding Stephen Strasburg seem to be getting bigger and more outlandish every day. Much of it is deserved and earned as his feat of striking out 14 players in his first major league game was a fantastic accomplishment.

Major league baseball and its many fans find his feat hard to believe, and as a result, they talk about it as the greatest thing that has happened to baseball in decades. They believe that he will be able to duplicate, or come close to duplicating, this feat in all his future games. Read more… »

A professional baseball pitching coach, when asked what advice he would give to a boy who wants to pitch in Little League, responded as follows: “learn to throw the fastball, throw strikes, hit spots, create a good smooth delivery and take pressure off the arm.”

There’s no questioning the fact that these are commendable accomplishments. However, is this the best advice for someone between the ages of 6 to 12? I don’t think so. Read more… »

Since spring training, professional baseball teams are once again having their number takers working overtime. They record every pitch made by a pitcher and let the coach know when they are approaching their allowable limits.

By recording and keeping tabs on the number of pitches thrown and number of innings pitched, teams believe they can control the number of pitching injuries that occur every year. To date, as supported by the research, this method has not made any change in the number and types of injuries that occur. Read more… »

Today’s headline, early in the second week of spring training, is already hoping for injury relief for Padres’ pitchers. The only preventive measure taken consists of “a cautious approach”.

The injuries to the players are quite diverse consisting of a quadriceps strain, sore arm and hip problems. By taking a cautious approach the team hopes to avoid some of the physical issues seen last year.
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In reading about Tim Linececum who won the NL Cy Young award, it reinforced my belief that pitchers today are getting paid more for doing less. For example, Linececum had 15 wins, the lowest ever for a starter in a full season of play. Of this total only four were complete games! And this was the most of any pitcher in the league!

Why don’t we see more 20 and 30 game winners? Many will say that it is due to better hitters but I disagree with this because the numbers do not substantiate it. The number of over 300 hitters is not increasing from year to year. It is easy to say is due to better pitching but then we find ourselves going around in circles making lame excuses that can’t be backed up. Read more… »

I don’t know if it’s due to the World Series or simply writer’s imaginations but the descriptions given to pitches seem to be getting more elaborate. For example, after game two in describing Yankee pitcher Rivera, it was stated that “… he has done this, amazingly, with one basic pitch — a bat-breaking cut fastball.”

I think we can all understand bat-breaking, but since when does the bat break because of a particular pitch? More often than not it breaks because of where the ball contacts the bat, not the type of pitch thrown. Read more… »

It is hard to tell whether writers are coming up with some new fancy names or if it is coming from the pitchers and ballclubs. In the write-ups of the first World Series game it was stated that “Lee bamboozled the Yankees with a spiked curveball, deceptive changeup and his usual pinpoint fastball …”

First and foremost, what is a spiked curveball? It’s bad enough that I have never seen a full description of the pathway taken by a curveball, let alone a spiked one. How is it different from a “regular” curveball, whatever it might be? Read more… »

Some corrections were made to a professional baseball pitcher that raised more questions than answers. It was stated that the pitcher “redoubled his efforts to not spin off his landing foot as he released the ball.” According to him,” my pitching coaches, for years they’ve been telling me to do it this way.”

These statements bring several factors to mind. First, how was it determined that a pitcher spins off his landing foot as he releases the ball? Second, is this a needed or desired action? Third, why do some pitching coaches advocate this action while others are against it? Read more… »

It is not uncommon to hear pitching coaches say that they work with pitchers on their mechanics. But they rarely if ever spell out what the mechanics are. In general, they use the term mechanics in place of technique. It can refer to certain actions of the total technique or to the entire throwing motion.

Mechanics should refer to throwing technique since the limbs and muscles act as lever and pulley systems which can be evaluated in a very scientific and precise manner. However, instead of determining the exact actions or movements that are in need of improvement, we instead usually hear general terms such as they are working on full extension of the arm. When this occurs or why it is even needed, is not mentioned. Read more… »

It is very frustrating for me to keep reading about what teams are doing to or for their players. The reason for this is that they use absolutely no science and their actions are based on hearsay, myths and pseudo-experts.

For example, pitcher Mat Latos of the Padres, who was brought up from the minor leagues and is doing very well, knows that his season will end shortly — before the end of the baseball season. Why? Because the team will not allow him to pitch more than 125 innings. Why? Because they are “looking out for him … they are watching his career… they are trying to save him”. The team knows that he “must be protected”. Read more… »

In the recent baseball draft, the Padres selected many tall pitchers. The rationale for this is summed up in the following quote by Bill Gayton, director of scouting: “Realistically, if you have a 5-foot-10 pitcher throwing 95 mph and a 6-foot-5 pitcher throwing 95, you’re going to take the 6-5 kid. A lot has to do with downhill plane, angle and durability.”

Are these however, legitimate reasons for selecting a pitcher? I don’t think so! These reasons just tell me that the team does not closely analyze pitching technique nor do they do by mechanical analyses of pitching technique. These should be the main criteria for selecting a player. Read more… »

For years I’ve been telling athletes who throw a ball or an implement, that they must generate the power for the throw with the body and use the arm for accuracy. This was recently brought out in a statement by San Diego Padres pitcher Kevin Correia to explain his improvement.

He stated that “I’m using my body more to throw the ball. It’s easier to control.” Many people were surprised by this statement but if you closely examine it, it makes perfect sense. In fact, I am surprised that more pitchers have not learned this, especially on the professional level.
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San Diego State pitcher Strasburg had been unbeaten in 14 starts and was virtually unhittable. He had up to three digit velocity and precision placement. He had struck at 150 hitters while allowing just 57 hits. He is touted as being the number one overall pick in next month’s amateur draft.

But, in the first game of the NCAA playoffs, he lost. Virginia, the winning team, did their homework and prepared well for their first game against SDSU. They did this by simulating Strasburg in their practices in anticipation of meeting him in the first game. Read more… »

It is amazing what a little physical conditioning can do for baseball pitchers. This season the Texas Rangers had the pitchers do some off-season work that included throwing live practices this spring. Its objective was for pitchers to go deeper into games with less regard for pitch counts.

Nolan Ryan is well known for his work ethnic during his 27 major-league seasons. He emphasized harder off season workouts for the pitchers and they are now seeing the results of this work. Their starting pitchers have averaged about 61/3 innings a game, a full inning more than last season. Overall, their pitching staff is doing much better. Read more… »

The baseball season is a little over three weeks old and we are already hearing of many injuries to the players, especially the pitchers. For example, a headline of the few days ago read, “Padres fear another pitcher may be lost.” Sadly, their fears have come to fruition. He is the third pitcher that they have now lost.

What is especially disturbing is that the pitcher now says that he has been experiencing pain over the last few weeks. But because he was able to “loosen” the arm he continued to pitch. But yet, common sense should have been enough to tell him that after all these years of pitching and experiencing several surgeries on his pitching arm, he would know that when he feels pain it is the body’s way of telling him that something is amiss. Read more… »

The title sounds like a broken record and in a way it is. If you follow baseball, you can’t help but read about injuries that are happening to players in spring training. Without fail, we read similar stories every year and they don’t stop with the end of spring training. You can read about injuries happening to players throughout the season.

For example, in today’s news Padres pitcher Chris Young was “scratched from start as precaution over tendinitis.” Young said that this injury nagged him every spring training and if it were the regular season he would definitely pitch. To prevent further exacerbating his tendinitis he throws only fastballs and changeups. Read more… »

It seems that college baseball coaches are now copying the words of the pros. For example in yesterday’s newspaper in an article on Strasburg, one of the top collegiate baseball pitchers, Tony Gwynn the coach, made some comments heard many times before from pro coaches.

He stated that, Strasburg is “… better this season. He’s throwing more downhill now. And he has added a pitch (a two seam sinking fastball)”. These are comments that I have read before - several times - and I believe even wrote a blog about them. Because of this, I’m tempted to say that coaches just parrot what they hear without knowing for sure if this is what actually takes place. Read more… »

There’s been a lot of talk of trades lately and I wonder what criteria the general managers and owners use when evaluating the pitchers. When I read some of the scouting reports and comments made by the coaches in regard to the various pitchers,I cannot see how they can make objective assessments.

For example, in regard to some pitchers, you may read that they can throw heat, have a good command of the strike zone, have a good breaking ball, can get out of jams and are aggressive. For other pitchers you may read that they have a good assortment of pitches, have an effective changeup, rarely throw over 90, and can go a full nine innings. Read more… »

It is not uncommon to hear pitching coaches state that they work with pitchers on their mechanics, but they rarely if ever spell out what the mechanics are. Mechanics should refer to throwing technique since the limbs and muscles act as lever and pulley systems which can be evaluated in a very scientific precise manner.

However, instead of determining the exact actions or movements that are in need of improvement, we instead usually hear general terms such as they are working on full extension of the arm. When this occurs is not mentioned. Read more… »

Several articles have appeared in the past on what players and coaches say happens in throwing or hitting. Most often the terms are general in nature so that the reader must imagine what actually takes place. For example, following are some of the latest comments were made by a MLB pitching coach when he made some mechanical adjustments with one of his pitchers.

“He stayed a little taller over the rubber and his arm had a higher slot that resulted in a better angle and created more of a downhill plane for his pitches.” These comments were made in relation to one of the top pitchers on the team and according to him, “It made a big difference … I was throwing the ball downhill more. I think I may have just drifted away from the correct delivery. It was something I was doing mentally more than anything but the adjustment made me stay more behind the pitch”. Read more… »

I keep reading accounts of pitchers and other athletes who attribute their better throwing and getting in shape to the treadmill. They are not unique in this since many athletes also use the treadmill as their main work out . They believe that it is most effective in comparison to other commonly used methods.

To get in shape, they usually work out 3-4 times a week on the treadmill. After a while however, some have to cut back on the running to relieve stress on on the lower back. As they continue their treadmill workouts, they state that in addition to losing weight, they get improved leg strength and more flexibility in the midsection. According to them, it enables them to be more efficient in the delivery, move more quickly on the field, and play better all-round. Read more… »

It appears that some professional teams now require a starting pitcher to throw a changeup on about 15% of his pitches. If they do not, they are relegated to the bullpen or back to the minors.

This new policy raises several questions. First is, exactly what do they mean by changeup? When I ask different coaches they invariably answer with,” well you know it’s when the pitch is different, you could have different speed and/or direction”. Is this the off-speed pitch that was once popular? Read more… »

An interesting article appeared in today’s newspaper titled “Mound magician”. It was a story about Josh Banks of the Padres and his quest to find the perfect pitch. In the article there were pictures of the grip that was used for eight different pitches. At first I thought that the article would go into how these pitches were thrown and how the ball broke on each of these different pitches. However, none of this information was included.

Instead, we were treated to a potpurri of comments from the coaches and other players. The comment by Maddux was probably the most noteworthy — “I just call ‘em all changeups for the sake of it. It’s hard to tell from the side.” I have said something like this in many previous posts. It is impossible to tell what kind of a pitch was thrown when looking from the side. Read more… »

Most athletes involved in training and conditioning, work the major body parts and actions. Most often this involves the large muscles of the body. Very little if any attention is given to the fingers and hands which are probably used more than any other body part in almost all sports. This is somewhat surprising since injuries to the hands and fingers are more common than injuries to any other body part. And the injuries are not unique to any one or two sports.

When we do find athletes strengthening fingers, they typically squeeze a ball or handgripper to strengthen hand grip. This exercise is somewhat effective especially for the beginning range of motion when gripping. However, because of the tension encountered when squeezing a ball or gripper, it is almost impossible for the fingers to go through a full range of motion. Thus the increase in strength is only somewhat effective for prevention of injury and does little to improve performance that relies on use of the fingers.<!–more–>

For example, in throwing and more specifically in pitching, the index and middle finger flex to impart backspin on the ball. The action occurs in the base joint, i.e., where the fingers join the palm of the hand. However this action cannot be duplicated when squeezing a ball or gripper. Read more… »

Jake Peavy, Cy Young pitcher for the Padres, will undergo an MRI today to determine the cause of discomfort in his right elbow. According to Peavy, “It’s not a normal soreness …it’s not normal. The arm is sore all the time. I do feel something, a little bit in the elbow… It’s also cause for concern… I really feel it every time I throw no matter what pitch”

These are very disturbing words and for multiple reasons. First it shows that the initial or continuing soreness is not being fixed. Merely icing the arm after pitching is not the answer. Second, it appears that a more serious problem has surfaced and will probably take more time and perhaps even surgery to treat. Third and perhaps even more importantly, is that the cause of the problem, i.e. what he does in his pitching motion, is not being looked at. This is the crux of the problem. Read more… »