Lincecumania

The important thing was that Tim learn that he can't succeed by consistently throwing the ball down the middle.  It appears he did that.

No one has commented on this, but after the Fresno pitching coach (perhaps an indication of where Tim will open the season) visited him after Tim gave up four hits to the first five batters, Tim proceeded to record five outs on just 16 pitches.  And that was after throwing two quick balls to the next batter he faced.

By the way, on the pitch count I posted on Tim in that game, I missed two balls that he threw.  Still, I'll take 21 strikes on 32 pitches from him any time (which is what he was officially recorded with.  I had him with 22 strikes and 10 balls.  Perhaps I misunderstood the call on a pitch over the radio.)  Regardless, 21 or 22 strikes on 32 pitches is very fine.  It was Tim's command of the strike zone, not his control in locating it, that did him in during that first inning.

And after the visit from the pitching coach, Tim made a fine adjustment, throwing 11 strikes on his final 16 pitches and locating them in much better places.

I have a question for you regarding this video.  The video makes it appear that Tim is pitching from the top of if not behind the rubber.  I think that is an optical illusion, since I know that he attempts to pitch with his the right side of his cleats just above the pitching rubber and the left side of his cleats just below it.  I'm thinking what appears to be the rubber is actually the slot in front of it and that Tim is indeed pushing HARD off the front of the pitching rubber.  Does that make sense?

When Tim is viewed from the front, he appears to be putting little effort into his throws.  But when viewed from the side, one can see how his whole body explodes forward.

I sort of envision Tim's delivery as if I were viewing a whip.  Tim's body is like the stem of the whip, driving forward to essentially snap his arm forward like the tip of a whip.  To me that puts little strain on the arm (tip of the whip).

Tim's dad compares Tim's body during delivery to a pole during a pole vault.  I think that conveys both how he gets so much velocity from a short (for a pitcher), thin, wiry body and how he is able to throw so many pitches so hard without losing much velocity or suffering even a single sore arm.

Tim has worked very hard for most of his life to keep his core strong and flexible.  After all, his body is his stem of the whip or his pole to "vault" his arm over.  Tim's dad believes it is the conditioning and the motion itself that contributes to Tim's success more than genetics.

Given that Tim's dad was clocked at 88 mph at age 55 using essentially the same motion as Tim uses would indicate the genetics aren't bad either, although it is probably equally true that it was the method and conditioning that allowed Chris to throw that fast at such an advanced pitching age moreso than his genetics.

I was also clocked at 88 mph at the age of 55.  Unfortunately it resulted in the CHP giving me a ticket.