Detroit Tigers: A love affair with the mechanics of Justin Verlander

Former ace of the Detroit Tigers pitching staff, Justin Verlander, is struggling this year.  It is not a fun thing to watch because he will go from untouchable to flat out bad between innings.

Detroit Tigers star players are declining by the game it seems. Justin Verlander is a prime example of it.

That being said, take away the stats for now.  Good or bad, it does not matter right now.  He may be struggling but there is one part of his game that is still smooth as silk.

Verlander has some of the prettiest mechanics I have ever seen. It is all very fluid and very repeatable.

I have written about his mechanics before, that can be read here. But they are so good, I cannot stay away.

What is not good

There is only one mechanical flaw that hinders the delivery of the Detroit Tigers starting pitcher.  That is his back leg.

While the stride of Verlander is fantastic, the problem is that he somehow stays tall on the back leg.

It makes it seem like there won’t be full extension, but there is.  He just brings his body over what looks like a stiff back leg.

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This makes it harder for him to follow through out front, which in turn can hurt his control.

What is good

Everything else is good.  He has a very good stride, great balance, and a quick arm.  But there is one part of his mechanics that stick out more than any other.

When Verlander transitions from his balance point to his stride out it is the smoothest in baseball to this day.

It can all be attributed to the classic JV hand drop.

For those who don’t know, Verlander will start his hands at his almost at his chin. Then once the front knee reaches the bottom of the glove he drops his hands.

This is so effective in the delivery because in ensures the timing of the whole delivery.  When his lower half is ready to release the ball, his top half will be in the right spot.

Not only is it mechanically beautiful, it is noticeably smooth.  There is no effort on Verlander’s part during this process.

Why it is not translating

While there is plenty more good about this delivery, the problem is that it is not translating well on to the field.

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The biggest question is why.  Well it is in part due to the stiff back leg, but there is more too it. Believe it or not the mechanics are not the full culprit.

Verlander is still trying to pitch like a fastball dominant pitcher.

In his untouchable innings, it works because he ramps the velocity up to 97 MPH.

But in the innings that don’t quite go his way, his fastball is sitting at about 93 MPH. Not a number that will blow anyone away.

Whether his velocity can be a consistently high number or not, he should be focusing on his curveball. That thing is nearly untouchable.

It will add successful years to his career if he mixes in more batters where he pitches off of his bender.

Next: Breaking down and reconstructing for next year

One thing is for sure.  From a mechanics standpoint, Verlander is a must see event for the Detroit Tigers.