C.C. Sabathia and Indians pitching coach Carl Willis pulled out some old photos recently, old-fashioned still shots. Willis thinks that
what they saw helped lend some insight into Sabathia's slow start.
The photos showed that Sabathia's stride toward home plate, as he released the ball, was extended too far. And along the way, the back side of his delivery -- his foundation -- was collapsed, his left knee bent deeply. Imagine a sprinter staying crouched for the first 50 meters of a 100-yard dash. "He was too spread out," Willis said, "and he was losing leverage. As a result, he was throwing the ball on the same plane."
Sabathia and Willis have worked on a correction: the 6-foot-7 left-hander shortened his stride in his last start -- "he got his [front] foot down" more quickly, said Willis -- and this allowed Sabathia to stand taller in his delivery, and to deliver the ball downhill. And Sabathia took those refined mechanics,
against the Royals, and whiffed 11 over six innings.
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Buster Olney
