Getting Inside the Baseball: Aaron Cook
by Kyle Boddy on Dec 21, 2008 7:03 AM PST
in Pitching Mechanics
15 comments
We know that Aaron Cook relies primarily on his sinker to get people out - a quick look at his PITCHf/x Player Card will prove it:
| Type | Movement in x (in.) | Movement in z (in.) | Initial Speed (MPH) | Number Thrown | Percent | Versus RHB | Percent | Versus LHB | Percent |
| Fastball | -4.2 | 8.58 | 92.42 | 262 | 12.27 | 71 | 7.43 | 191 | 16.2 |
| Sinker | -6.89 | 5.04 | 91.39 | 1521 | 71.24 | 711 | 74.37 | 810 | 68.7 |
| Slider | 1.13 | 2.73 | 84 | 352 | 16.49 | 174 | 18.2 | 178 | 15.1 |
We also know that most sinkerballers get their movement by using a two-seam grip and pronating through release. While bored at work and scouring the Internet, I ran across the following image that illustrates this concept beautifully:
Pretty cool, isn't it? You'll note that even though Aaron Cook has been on the disabled list shelf multiple times, none of it has anything to do with his elbow - nearly everything is related to his shoulder (pulmonary embolisms, blood clotting) or his sides (obliques). Though I haven't seen his pitching mechanics in slow motion video, I would be willing to bet that he has a problem with getting the arm up on time and exhibits forced scapular loading (and possibly hyperabduction - based on the blood clotting problems, which are quite serious).
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This photo...
…indicates that his arm is not full up at footstrike…
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/01Slaeb2RMgeh/610x.jpg
I realize that no analysis of a pitcher’s mechanics can be done with a single picture, but it would seem to appear here that his his timing is off.
by Dalkowski110 on Dec 21, 2008 2:57 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
I agree.
It does look like he has a late pitching arm at footstrike. Video analysis will tell us more.
Webmaster of Driveline Mechanics
http://www.drivelinemechanics.com - An Unconventional Look at Scouting
by Kyle Boddy on Dec 21, 2008 10:56 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Request:
Would you mind looking at Cookie’s mechanics (slow motion if you can find it). The other two I’ve been really interested in are Jhoulys Chacin and Neftali Feliz. I imagine that both of these may be tougher to find.
by Hizilla on Dec 22, 2008 7:06 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Feliz...
Neftali Feliz had a few clips from multiple angles on his minorleaguebaseball.com Prospect Profile. They weren’t in GIF format, but I know there are a few GIF converters out there.
by Dalkowski110 on Dec 23, 2008 6:08 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Aaron Cook
Can you please make a FanPost and request it? That way I can keep track of it easier.
Webmaster of Driveline Mechanics
http://www.drivelinemechanics.com - An Unconventional Look at Scouting
by Kyle Boddy on Dec 23, 2008 7:31 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Aaron Cook's bloodclots were in his lungs
not his shoulder
"It is a damn poor mind indeed which can’t think of at least two ways to spell any word."-Andy Jack
by justin007000 on Dec 25, 2008 12:00 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Not quite.
Cook saw his 2004 season come to an abrupt end when it was discovered that he suffers pulmonary embolism, or blood clots. During an August 7 start against the Cincinnati Reds, Cook complained of dizziness and shortness of breath. After he was taken to a local hospital, doctors discovered blood clots had formed in his right shoulder. On September 10, Cook underwent extensive surgery at a St. Louis hospital during which the first rib on his right side was removed to relieve compression on a major blood vein.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Cook_(baseball_pitcher)
Webmaster of Driveline Mechanics
http://www.drivelinemechanics.com - An Unconventional Look at Scouting
by Kyle Boddy on Dec 25, 2008 7:45 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
actually wikipedia is wrong
On Aug. 7, 2004, Cook was forced to leave a game at Coors Field because of dizziness and shortness of breath. A few hours later, tests revealed pulmonary embolisms – blood clots – in his lungs.
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2007/04/02/rockies-opening-day-starter-aaron-cook-almost-died/
I can’t say the Cook family is a friend of my family, but his mom was a secretary at my Dad’s office, and he and I graduated from the same high school, he a few years before me.
"It is a damn poor mind indeed which can’t think of at least two ways to spell any word."-Andy Jack
by justin007000 on Jan 4, 2009 2:55 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
What you are referring to is called Thorasic Outlet Syndrome. The clot is was probably in the subclavian vein. Interesting, because the major anatomical players in this problem are the clavicle (aka collarbone), the pec minor muscle, scalene muscle and 1st rib. If you think the scapula is involved, I would be interested to hear more about that considering the origin of the pec minor muscle is the coracoid process of the scapula. Anyway, just my 2 cents.
by seattle_pt1 on Dec 26, 2008 5:19 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Forced scapular loading...
Regardless of its effects on Cook’s injuries, he does exhibit forced scapular loading…
http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2007/10/28/IQu8KUt2.jpg
Okay, not the best image, but note how his elbow is slightly above the level of his shoulder. That’s pretty much the definition of forced scapular loading (for better or worse; Paul Nyman thinks this is good, Brent Strom does not). Is it hurting him? It may very well be, but it doesn’t seem to be the primary cause of his injuries. Is it contributing to the primary cause of his injuries? I honestly do not know.
by Dalkowski110 on Dec 27, 2008 9:15 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Forced scapular loading
Interesting post. Since there is debate, I wonder if weakness or tightness in certain structures make a pitcher more prone to injury with forced scapular loading. I imagine the pec minor could be involved given in insertion and effect on shoulder position and posture.
by seattle_pt1 on Dec 28, 2008 3:35 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Thoracic Outlet Compression Syndrome...
I decided for the sheer heck of it to google Thoracic Outlet Compression Syndrome, or simply Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, to see if I could find any other pitchers who recently hit the DL that suffered from this malady. The first one I found was Jeremy Bonderman. His scapular load looks like this…
http://img.slate.com/media/1/123125/123037/2133425/2146933/060814_SN_JeremyBondermanEX.jpg
The second one I found was Kip Wells. While Wells has good arm timing and doesn’t seem to hyperabduct his shoulder, he too employs forced scapular loading across his acromial line…you can see that evident in this photo…
http://pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=314&size=550×550_mb&ptp_photo_id=382051
The giveaway that it’s a forced scap load is him purposely taking the ball so far back across his acromial line in conjunction with his elbow starting to bend.
Number three? Kenny Rogers…
http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2008/0520/pg2_a_rogers_300.jpg
I can’t find a really good pic of his scap load; as you can see, he does it below the level of his shoulders. With that said, he’s also 44 years old and I think these problems started up when he was 43. That might be more age/wear and tear than mechanics.
Finally, I couldn’t find an adequate picture of John Rheinecker, although it should be noted that this picture…
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/02AU8It9Fxa3g/340x.jpg
…shows his arm to be VERY late at footplant. He’s already shifting his weight to his front leg and his arm still isn’t fully upright. For proof that that’s not just a funky armslot and that his arm does indeed get fully upright, there’s this picture…
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0fp615k8AJ40t/340x.jpg
I would bet he employs forced scapular loading for his arm to be that late.
by Dalkowski110 on Dec 29, 2008 6:56 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
So, if the elbow creeps above the shoulder during scapular loading is bad, but if the elbow stays below shoulder/acromial level then scapular loading is not harmful. This makes sense to me from an anatomical standpoint (my background). Here is a research article on how pitchers will have decreased upward rotation of the scapula. I think a decrease in upward rotation will cause poor scapular loading.
http://www.tmisportsperformance.com/research/baseball/Scapular_Upward_Rotation.pdf
by seattle_pt1 on Dec 29, 2008 9:13 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
Haven't been ignoring you...
Just haven’t had time to formulate a long post to respond.
In the meantime, have you read much of Eric Cressey’s stuff?
Webmaster of Driveline Mechanics
http://www.drivelinemechanics.com - An Unconventional Look at Scouting
by Kyle Boddy on Dec 30, 2008 2:18 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Pretty much...
“So, if the elbow creeps above the shoulder during scapular loading is bad, but if the elbow stays below shoulder/acromial level then scapular loading is not harmful.”
This basically restates Chris O’Leary’s hypothesis about the Inverted W/Inverted V; i.e. that scap loading above the acromial level is bad and that scap loading below the acromial level and behind the acromial plane is the “safe” way to scap load. I don’t agree line-by-line with this (if a pitcher takes his arm really far back behind his acromial plane, still below shoulder level, than I think he’s still at risk for injury…examples of this would include Mark Mulder, Kip Wells, John Maine, Zach Duke, Tyler Clippard, Chuck Tiffany, and Ryan Madson), but the basic premise is definitely something that I agree with. A pendulum arm swing with a non-forced scapular load, e.g. the arm action employed by Greg Maddux, Dan Haren, Jamie Moyer, Nolan Ryan, Mike Pelfrey, Duaner Sanchez, etc., is what I agree with. With that said, I believe that if you took 100 pitchers that use a “horizontal W” forced scapular load (one that goes across the acromial plane below shoulder level) and 100 with an “inverted W” forced scapular load, I would think the former would fare FAR better.
by Dalkowski110 on Dec 30, 2008 6:29 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
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