MVN: Most Valuable Network

Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about pitching mechanics. I am currently studying the Mike Marshall school of mechanics on the advice of Kyle Boddy of Driveline Mechanics (a very good site, I recommend checking it out). That said a few of Eveland's changes are pretty obvious so I thought I'd highlight them here.

Dana Eveland made his return to the Oakland A's rotation on Saturday, after 3 starts in the minors where he threw 21 IP, 2.57 ERA, 2 HR, 4 BB, 21 K.

One thing that did not return with Eveland though was his old pitching delivery. It's been replaced by a much cleaner delivery.

Here's Eveland's older fastball as seen by his strikeout of Rays 2B Akinori Iwamura:

Notice how he brings the glove and ball back from behind his head before bringing it behind his back. He also has a very slow extension of his right leg, it looks like he has a hitch when his right knee straightens out (though this may just be the gif quality).

Compare this with this fastball thrown to Ichiro Suzuki Saturday:

Now Eveland starts with the ball in front of his chest before dropping it behind his back. This is a much easier delivery to repeat and cuts out unnecessary movement. This should be a much easier motion to repeat perfectly than before. Eveland still appears to have a hitch in his leg step but it appears earlier and his right leg extends much smoother.

Eveland's new delivery seems to cut out a lot of the unneeded parts of the old one. But has it affected his pitches at all? I'll be using the numbers from my old Eveland analysis as a comparison (partially because it's easy and already done for me and also because my pitch database is being a, let's just say it rhymes with pitch, and isn't working right now.

Remember, we only have one start with Eveland's new delivery so small sample size applies, especially to the offspeed pitches. The first number is the old data, the second is Saturday's start

Well, the new delivery has had little effect on his velocity, his fastball may have lost a little juice but again we're only dealing with 46 fastballs.

The more interesting numbers are his movement. His fastball looks like it has a lot less "rise" to it, almost 3 inches worth. It also doesn't seem to break as much horizontally. The same can be said for his changeup, though the differences aren't as large (though this is only 9 pitches). His slider dropped a lot more, more than an inch and a half, which can be very useful. His curveball hasn't seemed to change at all.

Verdict

Eveland's mechanics might be easier to repeat and simpler, but it may have cost him a lot of movement (only 1 start of data though). Normally this is probably a bad thing, but it may have helped with his control as Eveland threw first pitch strikes to 18 of the 26 "batters" (very loose term with regards to the .264/.319/.388 2008 Mariners) he faced. It's difficult to come to too many conclusions after just one start, but Eveland's new delivery is probably a plus and hopefully will help him stick in the rotation this time around (with the injuries he's almost certain to for the rest of the year).