Jose Arredondo - a rookie reliever for the Los Angeles Angels - has been very, very good. His accomplishments include a 1.54 ERA and 53:20 k/bb ratio in 58.1 innings, only surrendering 2 home runs in that time, to boot (reflected in his ridiculous SLGA of .256).

Arredondo gets it done with three pitches classified as a fastball, changeup, and splitter as per Josh Kalk's (dixieflatline) PITCHf/x Player Cards. He gets it up there with a 95-98 mph fastball and has what many would consider to be "unorthodox" mechanics, like many of the Angels pitchers (Justin Speier, Francisco Rodriguez, Jered Weaver, etc). Interestingly enough, Dr. Marshall's disciples have noted that Arredondo has a lot of the same characteristics as their pitchers. Having heard this, I wanted to look further into it and see if their conclusions were valid...

Here is Arredondo pitching in a - ahem - very close game against the Texas Rangers a few days ago:

Here's that same animated image, slowed down a bit:

For a Dr. Marshall reference, here's what Jeff Sparks looked like when pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays (which are NOT pure Marshall techniques):

What Jeff Sparks looks like now (or did before he quit a few months ago) is not the same as he was in the MLB. I can't seem to copy the video over from Google Video, but you can take a look at it here.

Here are the similarities I see:

• Minimal reverse rotation of the shoulders
• Close to a vertical pitching forearm at release
  
• Glove pulled to shoulder
• Similar deceleration phase that would indicate powerful pronation through release

Arredondo has a few major differences, though;

• Excellent hip/torso separation
• Horiztonal abduction of the elbow beyond the acromial line (scap loading)
• Forearm up and bent inwards at footstrike (not what Dr. Marshall wants - he wants his pitchers to drive the ball horizontally with the arm laid back, not when the forearm is vertical)

Personally, I like his mechanics. Here's why:

• Arm Action: Arredondo limits reverse rotation of his shoulders and does not forcibly take the elbow beyond the acromial line. His pitching forearm is up at footstrike. Excellent.
• Tempo: Arredondo is quick to the plate - 19 frames from maximal leg lift to footplant. Excellent-Very Good.
• Ball Release: Arredondo maintains a near-vertical pitching forearm at release and points the pitching arm shoulder at the target, letting his momentum carry him through. Excellent.
• Followthrough: Arredondo finishes with the glove at the shoulder, firmed up, which is quite good. His arm does not uniformly decelerate, and this is something that I can't tell is bad or not without high speed video, unfortunately. People who have extremely powerful pronation through release (like Marshall's pitchers) will have abrupt followthroughs, but so will people who pull back with their shoulder and "slam" on the breaks too soon (or exhibit arm recoil). I would venture to guess that Arredondo is just featuring above-average pronation, given the fact that he relies on a fastball/change combination to put hitters away. Incomplete.

Overall, I like Jose Arredondo's pitching mechanics (and his stuff is undeniably good). Though I see some similarities between Arredondo and Dr. Marshall's students, they are much more of a cross between Greg Maddux's arm action and Tim Lincecum's tempo and release point.