Detroit Tigers: The Tale Of Two Pitchers, Daniel Norris

Pitching mechanics are supposed to be repeatable.  Detroit Tigers starter Daniel Norris has repeatable mechanics.

Detroit Tigers pitching coach, Rich Dubee, should take note that Norris has two sets of repeatable mechanics.

That is right.  From inning to inning, and sometimes pitch to pitch, Norris will show batters different mechanics.  I call this Good Norris and Bad Norris.

Bad Norris

Might as well start with the bad side.  The difference in the mechanics is on the follow-through.  Bad Norris keeps his back straight up on the follow-through.

Not bending the back on the follow through will affect several different parts of the delivery.

First of all, it will leave him susceptible to injury.  When not bending his back, Norris is stopping all forward momentum after delivery to stand straight up.  That puts a big strain on his spine to stay straight up.

But the real reason pitching coaches will teach bending the back is because it allows the pitcher to throw the ball low in the zone with little trouble.

While Norris may be able to get the ball low sometimes, he won’t be able to be consistent with it, which is where he gets into trouble with location.

Keeping his back straight also will flatten out his breaking pitches, but not completely. He will still get movement based on how tight the spin is on his breaking pitches, but the ball will break more when he bends his back.

Good Norris

This is the Norris that everyone is excited about.  This pitcher has the potential to be dominant for the Detroit Tigers.  Dare I say “Justin Verlander level.”

The difference when he bends his back is huge.  He has better control overall and finds way more success.

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I have personally seen this in action.  I have seen Bad Norris give up a home run and walk the yard, then Good Norris with 95 pitches on him be there the next inning and strikeout the first two batters of the inning.

The difference is night and day.  Someone needs to point this out to him because he can be a Cy Young Award winner if he figures it out.  I am not kidding.

Don’t be surprised if the professional coaches get this kink worked out so Good Norris becomes a dominant name in pitching.  Good Norris has too good of control and movement not to become consistent.

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Pay close attention to the next Detroit Tigers game when Norris is on the mound.  You will see this exact phenomenon, and you will see the difference between Good and Bad Norris.