On the Yankees beat

Welcome Back Andy! We really missed you around here. Ice that elbow twice a day please.

Pettitte looks rather thin in the face. I hope it helps the arm.

According to Brian Cashman Proctor staying in the bullpen ? There's no right handed specialist in the yankees bullpen

If Proctor, Vizcaino and Farnsworth are good against lefties, Who will be Yankees righty specialist that effective against right handed batters? Toronto has six legit right handed batters like Thomas, Johnson, Rios, Glaus, and Wells and Aaron Hill

Jason,
the yanks still have brian bruni(dont know how to spell his name)i believe he had an era of under 2 against left handers in 2006

i mean right handed batters

Welcome back Andy! Some of the guys thought I lost it when we didn't sign Lilly. They should of seen me when the Yanks gave you the cold shoulder 3 years ago. I was swinging my machete at anything that moved.

What's Brian Bruney stats against right handed against last year?

Rick,
I hope the landscaping around your house has sufficiently recovered from 3 years ago.
I know I had to patch a few holes in my basement walls back then.

Hey Rick, go to the prior segment with Mr. May. I left a question for you.

It is great to have Andy Pettitte back. He may not have the tools of his last 21 win season but I think he will be a positive force on the team in many respects.

Welcome home, Andy!

Interview with Gyroballer Kyle Boddy, Part 1

http://yankeeprospects.blogspot.com

Baseball Prospectus's Will Caroll has made it his personal mission to teach people the gyroball - a new pitch created by a group of Japanese scientists. Several Japanese pitchers have been rumored to throw the gyroball, including the newest Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. I talked with one of Caroll's students - amateur pitcher Kyle Boddy. This is the first part of the interview.

Pinstripes Potentials: Kyle, how did you learn about the Gyroball?

Kyle: Reading Baseball Prospectus and Will Carroll's articles. I have followed Japanese baseball for about 6 months now and I'm very interested in the double-spin mechanics and their theories on pitching.

PP: After learning about the pitch, how did you learn to throw it?

Kyle: Will Carroll agreed to teach me in December if I flew out to Indianapolis. He showed me the infamous gyroball book and how to throw the pitch, and gave me basic instruction on other pitching mechanics

PP: How easy was it to learn the pitch?
Kyle: Fairly easy, actually - learning the concepts is easy when done by a pitching coach, but throwing it well is very tough - not unlike most breaking balls

PP: What other breaking pitches are you familiar with?

Kyle: In high school and college I threw a fastball, circle change, splitter, and cutter. Eventually I learned to throw a slider and curveball, and recently learned how to throw multiple gyroball variants. I now throw a fastball, changeup (experimenting with grips that I like), slider, and side force gyroball.

PP: Exactly what makes a Gyroball a Gyroball?

Kyle: The pitch is thrown without spin on the x/y axes - much like a bullet from a chamber of a gun. The spin is rifle-like in nature, and spins only on the z-axis - better known as gyroscopic force. As such, it removes the lift force from the equation of the Magnus forces on the pitch, and if thrown with the basic grip, will produce a late break downards. The four-seam fastball is thrown with lots of backspin on it with all seams catching the air - giving it a "rising fastball" optical illusion. This is due to the lift force being generated by the Magnus forces. The gyroball has no lift force imparted on it - neither negative (similar to a breaking ball) or positive (a fastball).

PP: Almost like a football's spin?

Kyle: Exactly like a football spin. It is thrown in a similar fashion - imagine pulling down across the laces of a football to impart spiral spin.

PP: How is it thrown?

Kyle: The basic grip for the gyroball is held like a football with the ball between the ear and the hand and the index and middle fingers touching a seam where they are closest together on the baseball (think: two-seam fastball, at the seams – not across the seams). The thumb is positioned directly under the baseball. The gyroball is typically thrown from the same arm slot as any other pitch. After reading these sentences, you may be envisioning a slider grip, but it’s not. The hardest part of envisioning the gyroball grip without seeing it is the ability to grasp the concept of holding a baseball like a football.

When you deliver the pitch, all the motions should be the same as a normal pitch is thrown. However, when you are bringing the arm up to speed, the wrist never breaks at the release point. After throwing the pitch, your wrist will naturally pronate, just like a circle changeup. If this is all you did when throwing the gyroball, it would be an effective off-speed pitch with similar actions to a knuckleball. However, the real “magic” of the gyroball comes when you are at the release point with your wrist locked. As you are about to release the ball and your thumb comes off the ball, pull down with your index and middle fingers, imparting true gyroscopic spin on the ball. Again, remember the analogy to throwing a football – when you throw a football, you pull down with your fingers across the laces to impart spiral spin.

PP: On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is the slowest changeup that you throw and a 10 is the fastest fastball that you throw, how fast to do throw a gyroball fastball?

Kyle: Well, there are four variants of the gyroball (at least). The regular grip can be thrown the hardest, and on that scale, I'd have to say I throw it around a 6.

PP: When you throw the Gyroball with a locked wrist - imparting true Gyroscopic spin on the ball - how much will it break?

Kyle: It's tough to say - the downward break is about a foot, and the side break has been increasing as of late on my pitches. I think I'm really developing it well. Will Carroll says the pitch breaks late and sideways between 1.5 and 2 feet, but I haven't had that kind of success.

PP: Will Carroll writes that in addition to the grip and the wrist action, that to correctly throw a gyroball you have to create "Double spin" by moving your hips. Is this how you throw it?

Kyle: Yes, absolutely. The double-spin mechanics that the Japanese write about have helped increase the velocity on my pitches for sure. Generating the necessary loop-like motion on the delivery requires turning the back leg early to generate powerful spin from the hips, which then turn the shoulders and deliver the ball through the fingers. By doing this, you can gain velocity on the pitches and create a tailing fastball in addition to throwing an effective gyroball. My four-seam fastball has pretty good tailing movement for an amateur league player, I think.

PP: Does it make it mechanically difficult to throw?

Kyle: No, it's very easy on the arm. However, the motion itself is unnatural - just like any changes to your delivery. By "unnatural", I really mean "unfamiliar" to most players.

PP: So it's not going to blow out anybody's elbow?

Kyle: I highly doubt it, but high-speed camera work and other analyses have not been done on the pitch. This is a major reason why I'm not willing to take pictures of the grip and write a tutorial on how to throw it beyond what I have already done - I don't mind risking my arm since I'm an old amateur league player, but I don't want a 16 year old kid in high school reading what I have to say and throwing it incorrectly, leading to injury. Injuries at the youth level are the highest concern of mine, especially when I coach Little League.

PP: So you would not recommend a High School pitcher reading this to go out and experiment?

Kyle: I definitely would recommend against it. The most important thing for youth pitchers to learn is to locate their fastball well and to develop a strong change-up. Breaking pitches, while very awesome looking, aren't the mainstay of any pitcher in the big leagues. They all made it by throwing an effective fastball to spots they want to, and changing speeds easily. However, if they really want to learn (and most kids will experiment no matter what you tell them), they should seek out someone who can help them throw the pitch and coach them every step of the way. Unfortunately, very few people seem qualified enough to do that. Will Carroll is basically the only one in the U.S. I could teach the basics of it, but that's about it

Kyle Boddy maintains the website called Baseball Delusions

http://www.baseballdelusions.com/site/

Good Interview by DownfromNj about How to throw a Gyroball

Yeah, I don't think that was quite long enough. Maybe every other Yankee blog in its entirety could be cut and pasted in here.

Proctor, Farnsworth, Vizciano are all effective against righties...it almost goes without saying that a right handed pitcher will be effective against a right handed hitter. The reason Cashman brought up their effectiveness against lefties is because that isn't as much of a given so it needs to be given special mention.

Yes it is good to have Andy Pettitte back. He'll be a positive influence not only on the mound but in the clubhouse as one replacement for the departed Sheffield/Johnson who were not.
On another front in the AL East, Boston may be thinking of putting Papelbon back in the bullpen. If so, all they'd do is fill one hole and create another. See Boston.com for full details.........

I'm glad that Pettitte's back with us. he was always one of the good guys and his presence alone will be a hugh boost to the team.
I am not in favor of any special treatment for Rocket though! I read the article on Andy which mentions that Boston may present Rocket with the same open-ended schedule that he enjoyed in Houston. For me, this is not a good thing!

Matt and John G,
Agree with some of the points you guys made Andy will be a much better "clubhouse guy" than some of those who have left. I also don't favor kissing RC's ample rear end to get him to come back.
Matt, if what you say about Papelbon going back to the bullpen is true than you can count on RC going back to Boston, he's always wanted that in my opinion, as it will give him more of what he craves- attention (not to mention that he would become Boston's all time leader in wins with his first victory).

I'm not a big fan of Rog. He still smells like dirty Red Sox to me.

Glad to see Andy Pettite back! I watched him in his formative years at Heritage Park pitching for the Albany-Colonie Yankees and he's never lost his competitiveness and enthusiasm for the game.
He'll be a much better performer than RJ in the 2007 Post Season!
Clemens could be a valuable contributor in 2007 - ONLY if he is treated like every other member of the Yankees. "Open-ended" schedules and other special considerations for RC will cause unfavorable results with the Team's chemisty/ morale. We don't need another "Bronz Zoo"!

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