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Derek Holland (shown in shoulder external rotation) cannot believe that Kyle's writing a post about pitching mechanics.

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I've gotten quite a few requests to look at the pitching mechanics of Derek Holland, and a longtime reader named Kevin W. sent me an email with clips of Holland striking out a batter with his 95 mph fastball. Since I've long said that anyone who sends me GIF images of pitchers from a decent angle will likely have their request granted, I think it's only fair to follow up on that promise!

Here's what Kevin himself had to say about Holland:

"Derek Holland, 22 year old power lefty of Texas Rangers. Drafted in the 25th round in 2007, he rocketed through the Rangers farm system. 6'2", 185 lbs, mid 90s fastball. He can hit 97 mph, usually sits between 92-95 mph.

In his 12th career MLB start, he shut out the Anaheim Angels, posting this line:

9 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. 96 pitches, 73 strikes. He also took a no hitter until the 6th inning in that game.

I have attached a gif of him getting a strikeout on a 95 mph fastball during that shutout."

I think that just about covers it. So far, Derek Holland has posted the following line in the majors:

FIP has Holland pegged at 4.62 while tRA (now available on Fangraphs; this is awesome) has him at 5.31 with a 18% LD rate, 43.6% GB rate, and 38.4% FB rate. Pretty solid for a first-year starter - the home runs are a bit of a problem, but he's never had a major problem with it in the minors and should settle down after some time in the big leagues.

Look behind the cut for the great animated GIF that Kevin sent in along with a quick blurb about his pitching mechanics!

Trip Somers (of TexasLeaguers.com) had this to say about Derek Holland:

...you can surely see some similarities to Tim Lincecum. They share a similar stride and an intense trunk flexion. Each launches himself forward with such force that he flies through the air dragging his back foot like an anchor before landing firmly on the front leg.

At this point, both pitchers have their trunks extended (bent backwards). As the hips turn forward, the trunk flexes and drives the throwing shoulder almost directly over the front hip.

Where they really differ is in their arm actions. Holland picks the ball up early; the ball is at driveline height before his front foot lands. Lincecum picks the ball up fairly late; the ball is still near his hip until right before his front foot lands. Holland picks the ball up with his shoulder. Lincecum picks the ball up with his elbow and has to forcefully externally rotate his arm to position it for the throw.

Holland takes the ball further toward third base than Lincecum takes the ball toward first base. When Holland starts to drive his pitching shoulder, his arm and the ball are accelerated toward first base before they are accelerated toward the plate. This large lateral acceleration results in forearm flyout that is not present in Lincecum's delivery.

Holland releases the ball with a low 3/4 arm angle and has a very clean follow-through with no noticeable recoil.

As usual, we agree. I'll throw in my two cents to compare the two.

• Tempo: Holland is much slower to footplant from maximal leg lift than Lincecum, clocking in at 23 frames per second. Ideally this number will be at or under 20 frames per second - building momentum towards the plate helps to provide an energy source to convert linear forces into rotational forces and help to increase fastball velocity and take strain off the upper body.
• Arm Action: Holland is better at getting the ball up in the driveline early, but because of his closed landing stance, he has to pull his pitching arm across his body and flex his torso significantly to achieve his release point. This will unnecessarily stress the pectoralis minor and the anterior portion of his shoulder. Holland would benefit from striding slightly more open to take strain off of his torso and to achieve a higher arm slot to eliminate much of his forearm flyout and unnecessary side-to-side movement of the pitching arm.
• Ball Release: As I pointed out above, Holland exhibits significant forearm flyout as a result of striding too closed and will have difficulty pronating through release on all of his pitches. This is evident when looking at high speed footage of Holland throwing off a mound.
• Followthrough: Holland has a mostly clean followthrough, but without pronating through release, he's going to have compressive forces on the back of the elbow that slam the olecranon process into its fossa.

I wouldn't be surprised if he skips a start or two due to a fatigued shoulder or inflammation in the pitching elbow as the Rangers are likely to treat him with kid gloves down the stretch.