Retooling Brandon McCarthy: Part I
Trip Somers
Brandon McCarthy delivers a first-inning pitch against the Indians on Friday, March 19th.Every spring, baseball fans are treated to a collection of stories, all some variation of the same theme. Look who gained 20 pounds! Look who lost 20 pounds! Look who spent three months kick-boxing! The theme, in case you haven't guessed, is: watch out for this guy, he really stepped up his conditioning this off-season.
Texas Rangers right-hander Brandon McCarthy has been the subject of many such articles over the past two years.
After a scapular stress fracture in 2007, McCarthy worked hard to strengthen the area around his shoulder hoping to avoid a recurrence in 2008. He even added a reported 15-20 pounds to his frame. Despite this hard work, he suffered a severe forearm strain during spring training in 2008 that caused him to miss four-plus months. Only a few starts into his return, McCarthy strained the flexor tendon in his right middle finger, shutting him down for the final two weeks of the season.
That winter, McCarthy went all out to bulk up. It was widely reported that McCarthy's 7,000-calorie daily diet helped him pack on 25 pounds. He even told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Jeff Wilson that it made him hate eating. Through the first two months of the 2009 season, it looked like McCarthy's hard work was beginning to pay off, but by the time June rolled around, McCarthy was dealing with the same shoulder pain he had felt in 2007 -- another stress fracture in his right scapula.
This year, things have been a little different. McCarthy explained to Baseball Time in Arlington, "In terms of preventing future injury, the biggest thing I did this off-season was try to rework my mechanics. Mostly trying to be more efficient in certain points in my delivery."
While on the disabled list in 2009, McCarthy began looking for ways to reduce the stress on his shoulder, which led to some pretty major mechanical changes by the time he was activated. A work in progress, McCarthy's mechanics became the main focus for his off-season.
No place is his work more evident than in his follow-through, the area I identified as the most likely cause of his scapular stress. In the past, McCarthy's follow-through took his arm up near his head before before finishing across his body toward his glove-side hip. Now, his primary arm deceleration occurs with his elbow roughly at shoulder level instead of near his head. Hopefully, the image below will help illustrate the point.
The problematic follow-through.Unfortunately, since I was not able to attend spring training this year, I do not have any high-speed footage of McCarthy's new mechanics. This makes it difficult for me to be able to show you what I'm talking about.
There's a level of fluidity in his delivery now that is hard to believe based on how he used to look. Compared to his mechanics from last spring, his current mechanics are dramatically different.
His influences came from a number of places, but he wasn't operating by feel alone. "I definitely tried to incorporate certain aspects of durable, successful pitchers around the league. I'm a visual learner and pretty good at mimicking physical actions, so it's the easiest way for me to change," McCarthy explained.
This correlational approach is somewhat scientific, but correlation is no guarantee that a causal relationship exists. There is fault in assuming that someone will continue to be durable because they have been durable in the past. For example, McCarthy himself looked fairly durable until 2007, having thrown 172 innings as a 20-year-old in 2004 and 186.1 innings as a 21-year-old in 2005 before moving to the bullpen in 2006.
McCarthy adds, "This off-season I didn't put any extra emphasis into one physical area. Didn't try to bulk up, just really wanted to gain strength and get myself into the shape I need to be in. Basically, I just trusted the program Jose Vazquez put together for us and stuck to it."
As I see it, this is another positive change from McCarthy's previous off-seasons. A lot of people confuse bulking up with adding strength. While the two aren't always mutually exclusive, the human body is fully capable of getting stronger without getting bigger. Given the choice between getting big and getting strong, one hopes that most athletes would choose to get strong.
While the sky is certainly not the limit for McCarthy, there's no telling what he can do if he gets healthy. Injuries have played a huge role not just in limiting his playing time but also in his development as a starting pitcher.
Going into his fourth season with the Texas Rangers, McCarthy has accumulated only 221 innings in 44 starts and one relief appearance. During that time, McCarthy has been a roughly league-average starting pitcher despite one of the worst home run rates in the league.
To that end, McCarthy has introduced two new pitches along with his reworked mechanics. In Part II, McCarthy discusses his new stuff, and I have a look at what it could mean for his future.
Reader Comments (13)
I'm done with McCarthy. The only retooling of him I'd like to see now is turning him into a trade chip...
Mike E: That meme is tired and short-sighted. McCarthy is far more valuable to the Rangers than he is on the trade market. Before McCarthy can be worth anything to another team, he has to prove some level of durability, and the thing is, if he does that, the Rangers have no reason to move him.
Yes, Trip, but at some point isnt a player just what he is? An oft-injured, league average starting pitcher? The Rangers have better options. If you can stash McCarthy at AAA, I'm all for that.
Exactly Joel, I'd still much rather see D.Holland get that 5th spot, being skipped when possible to keep his innings down and take his upside over B-Mac.
Stash him at AAA and let him prove his durability there, if we need him 2 months from now and he's health and effective then give him a shot, I'm sure Feldman, Hunter, or someone else will hit a rough patch between now and then.
Thanks NNoC, thoughtful insights as usual, looking forward to part 2.
I'm somewhat intrigued by the current of McCarthy regeneration attempt. Seems his delivery is quieter, more compact, better balanced with less flailing parts. While it's standard fare that coaches attempt to get tall pitchers to maximize that trait and throw top down, that seems to have been counterproductive in this case.
While I remain wary, I concur that he remains a potential asset and simply kicking him to the curb would be short-sighted and foolish. To maximize any future value though, I think he has to stay in a rotation be it in Arlington or OKC. Moving him to the bullpen would likely set him back in my view, mitigating his progress. Whats your take on rotation v pen?
At this point I don't think Holland or McCarthy will be getting the 5th spot unless something dramatic changes in the last couple weeks in Arizona. I think Holland ends up in AAA and McCarthy spends some time in the bullpen. The bullpen doesn't really prove anything about his durability, but it will allow him to prove his new stuff against major league hitters. I still have 100% faith that Holland is a starter in this league, but I don't think anyone can know what McCarthy will be after his newest change. I do think it's safe to assume he's not an ace; however, he could be a mop-up duty / long man, middle relief / setup guy, or a 4th/5th starter. Who knows?
All I know is that I certainly wouldn't hand the guy a rotation spot, but I also wouldn't just release him or trade him for a bag of beans. I'm pulling for the guy.
I am actually pulling for him, and hope he proves us wrong for doubting him. So far he has not shown us ANYTHING to be excited about...... but someone somewhere must have seen his tallent......
To dump him now would be a give away, and IF he has value, it will benefit us.
So let the smart guys figure it out.... most of us have no money invested anyway.....
think it over.
It's interesting to hear what McCarthy has done, primarily with where his arm is arm coming through.
Did he indicate how comfortable he's feeling with his new mechanics? Are they to the point he feels like they are second nature?
Joel: I don't think you can say that about anyone, let alone someone who has already made such significant changes. McCarthy hasn't just rebuilt his mechanics over the course of 1 calendar year, he's also re-invented the way he pitches. For all intents and purposes, he's a completely different pitcher.
How effective will his cutter and sinker be? How will his velocity be affected by these changes? Will he finally be able to stay healthy? These are questions to which answers can only be guessed right now.
A Stephens: My personal view point is that McCarthy should be the #5 starter to begin the season with Wilson in the rotation to start and Harrison in the bullpen. Early season rotations almost always change. If McCarthy doesn't work out, then you've got options. If you put McCarthy in the bullpen, you don't learn much about his health, and you learn slowly about his new pitches.
Another thing to remember, McCarthy doesn't turn 26 until July.
Wilson looks like a decent rotation option, but, like McCarthy, his clock is a little more accelerated than the other options, so they should get the first shots. If they can't hack it, you've got at least three solid options in Tommy Hunter, Matt Harrison, and Derek Holland.
rooster: I did ask that question. His answer will be discussed a little bit in Part II.
I agree with billydpowell. The Rangers cannot outright release McCarthy or trade him for an Olmedo or a Treanor because they are selling very low. Let him prove himself at AAA, and if he does and there is a major league need, then by all meansbring him up. Even then though, I might go with Holland and the increased upside.
Trip: This isn't the first time McCarthy has changed his pitching repetorie. Joey wrote this article last Spring about him ditching the curve that helped make him a rising prospect for a slider. http://www.bbtia.com/home/2010/2/24/fixing-brandon-mccarthy-again.html The second McCarthy started feeling confident in himself he incorporated the curve back in. Now he changed his mechanics more, and started throwing a cutter and sinker....yes no one can know with certainty that McCarthy won't become a decent pitcher this year. But once a guy tries to hang on by changing his pitches and mechanics multiple times.....it's natural for skepticism to outweigh optimism.
Typo in my previous comment. McCarthy won't be *27* until July.
Joel: McCarthy changed from a curveball to a slider to "take stress off his shoulder." I'm not sure it's a coincidence that he didn't last very long after he brought it back. Lumping that change into the same idea as what he's done this off-season is misguided. Categorizing him as a guy "[trying] to hang on by changing his pitches and mechanics multiple times" is simply not understanding what he's done and why he's done it.
I've always thought McCarthy would put it together at some point. Hopefully this is the year. Can't wait to read part II. One limitation: Doesn't he have to clear waivers to go to AAA?