So what's the problem?
I am a self-described 'cautious optimist'. Would that I were a full-fledged, even an over-the-top optimist, After all, it's rational to experience the joys of day to day optimism, especially as regards future events we have no control over. If those events don't turn out as we would have hoped, we will have to deal with them when the time comes. Anticipatory anxiety about how they will turn out is unlikely to make one feel better should things not go well.
Still, I am helpless to prevent myself from worrying about clouds in the forecast that may darken even the brightest day. The best I can hope for is to be cautiously optimistic.
And so, true to my personality, I have found myself unable to sleep well having spotted three issues that are potential clouds hanging over the heads of young Met players that so many fans and fellow bloggers are relying on to be part of the future core of the team. The players and my concerns about them are: Jonah Tong (injury due to too much spine bend in his delivery), Francisco Alvarez (inefficient mechanics and poor kinematic sequence) and Mark Vientos (limiting myself to his steep angle of attack)
In what follows, I present videos demonstrating both the evidence of the problem each faces and the potential consequences for each's long term prospects. I have intentionally resisted suggesting solutions in the cases of Tong and Alvarez as I am just a commentator and not accountable for the suggestions I would otherwise make. The Mets have excellent coaches whose job it is to minimize adverse consequences both to health and performance, and they have lots of experience they can rely on as well as enjoying a direct relationship with the players. In contrast, I have suggested a potential solution to one of the problems that Vientos suffers from because shallowing out a swing path that is too steep and too far to the left too early is something I have a lot of experience with as a golfer and golf coach; and the solutions to those problems in golf transfer to baseball naturally as the video will show.
As in the Tuesday post on biomechanics, I begin each section below with the key points I am hoping to get across in the videos that immediately follow.
Tong's Delivery
Key Video Features: Three ways of pitching over the top: arm extension, tilting and side-bending. Arm extension and tilting can keep spine relatively straight which is a healthy alignment, but both are problematic; lateral side bending invariably bends the spine as well which can be very unhealthy, especially if it occurs at vulnerable locations along the spine, leading to back problems.Videos also show other disadvantages of each approach including, too much reliance on independent arm speed (direct arm extension); instability (tilting), lower back injuries (side bending); and disruption of the kinematic sequence (all three)
Video 1: How Tong delivers from a (near) 12 O'clock position
Video 2. The risks and limits of doing so
Alvarez's Kinematic Sequence
Key Video Features: His lateral move also opens hips and shoulders, reduces ability to torque and rotate hips without opening shoulders too much. reduces plate coverage, too much reliance on initiating swing with upper body and arms, not sustainable over the long haul, he is left to start swinging motion too early in order to generate adequate speed. Very high effort swing relative to actual bat speed produced.
https://youtu.be/EqHIWs_yb4QKey Video Features: Steep and shallow are matters of degree. Shallow just means more level, like an airplane landing as it gets close to runway. Two ways to shallow: arms down and then around; ulner deviate (uncock the lead wrist) as you rotate. Aaron Judge's approach is second and that is my preferred approach as well.
Summary
My goal has been explanatory and educational. I am just employing a decently trained eye to help fans and others look beyond the numbers and to understand the modern baseball lexicon in plain language. I want to be clear that with the exception of my views about leveling or shallowing a steep or over the top swing, I am making no recommendations regarding how to fix the problems Tong and Alvarez may face, nor am I predicting that the issues I identify will shorten their careers or reduce their success.
At the same time, I would not back away from my claims that there are real issues that Tong and Alvarez face. There are concerns about how long one can absorb punishment to the spine before the brain changes the motion to reduce its impact. There are real concerns about the efficiency of a swing that relies too much on speed initiated through early initiation of the arms and hands, including collateral consequences implicating plate coverage and pitch recognition.
But these are all great athletes with excellent coaching and medical staffs to support them So, as they say, while I am not as 'sold' as others are on the futures of these players, I remain 'cautiously optimistic.'
