Former New York Mets pitching coach, Rick Peterson spoke with John Harper of the NYDN regarding the injuries of the team’s pitching staff. Peterson believes he may have the cure to help what ails this staff frequently.
Peterson is a firm believer that if the team’s young power pitchers were to throw with a bit less velocity it may help their bodies in staying healthy for the long run.
“I’m sure that Syndergaard, for example, could dominate a game at 95-96 MPH,’’ Peterson said.
“I’d like to see him try that because if he did dominate while throwing with maximum effort only occasionally, the way pitchers did in the past, he’d increase his chances of being on time with his delivery.’’
This all leads into Peterson’s belief in biomechanics, something he has preached to each team he had coached with. In this theory, being “on time” with your delivery helps for a more fluid motion of the body and a lesser risk of injury.
“When the timing is off, that’s when a pitcher is at risk of injury,’’ Peterson said. “Think about it this way: there’s a point in time when the arm is fully externally rotated, and the next moment is when you begin the acceleration phase with your arm.”
“There’s a brief moment when the ball almost comes to a stop. From that moment until the ball comes of your hand, that ball — let’s take Syndergaard — is then traveling to 99-100 mph in a time-frame of .02 seconds,
“So when you talk about maxing out for an entire game, your timing is going to be off on multiple different pitches, and that’s where the injury factor comes in.”
It certainly is an interesting thought. Peterson was once known as a pitching whiz in his time with the Oakland Athletics as well as the Mets. There could be some truth to this theory as well.
Decreasing their velocity though would also take away from the identity of who this pitching staff is and what they represent. It would be hard to imagine a guy like Noah Syndergaard just becoming a mid-90 MPH flame thrower when he holds the possibility of throwing 100 MPH in his back pocket.
It is possible though for the sake of their health and the longevity of their ability to play at a high level, something like this may be taken into consideration. Check out Harper’s full conversation with Peterson at the link above for more insight from the former coach.
