Zito投球分析第二篇
http://tinyurl.com/55bxel
by Paul Nyman
April 18, 2008
Left-handed pitchers are almost an enigma in baseball. Every team wants
them but few can figure out how to develop them. Even if they are not very
good they will probably have a job in some team's bullpen. Most lefties are
considered soft tossers or control artists and the ones that can "bring it"
are considered gems. In the minors there are few of these power lefties and
the ones that do exist top this list.
—Baseball Examiner
In the first article in this series, “A Bridge Too Far,” I started the quest
to understand the how and why of Barry Zito's lost fastball (what little he
previously had). It's simply the result of never learning how to throw a
baseball efficiently. The how and why of Zito's lost fastball is the how and
why of throwing mechanics (as opposed to pitching mechanics), along with what
makes the pitcher successful at the major league level.
Finding Zito's lost fastball requires an understanding of throwing mechanics
(as opposed to pitching mechanics) and what makes a pitcher successful at the
major-league level.
It is generally accepted that left-handed pitchers usually have an advantage
over their right-handed counterparts at all levels of baseball. Why? As with
all questions of pitching mechanics, there is as much mystique as there is fact
. For example, many baseball people believe that a left hander's ball moves
differently than a right hander's ball. Some will tell you that left handers
throw differently because of the left brain versus right brain “thing,” that
left handers are “wired” differently.
I became interested in left-handed pitchers because of their ability to succeed
with a lesser fastball than their right-handed counterparts. Understanding how
left handers throw could tell me something about how the body throws by
studying the fastball exception rather than the fastball rule.
Going back in time to find video of the best who ever threw the baseball has
helped me understand how the body optimally throws the baseball.
Hall of Fame left handers Herb Pennock and Carl Hubbell were not your typical
left-handed pitchers; they knew how to throw the ball.
My answer to why left handers can succeed with less pure stuff than their
right-handed counterparts is the same explanation as why/how a fastball rises.
The physicists tell us that a fastball doesn't rise, because there is not
enough translational and rotational speed to totally overcome the effects of
gravity. But players who faced fireballers such as Nolan Ryan will swear that
his fastball rose!
Physicists will explain this apparent contradiction by saying that Ryan's
ability to throw the ball 100 mph did not give the ball time to fall as much as
someone throwing 90 mph or less. And because hitters don't see 100 mph
fastballs as often as 90 mph ones, pitches approaching 100 mph may appear to
rise because they (we) expect the ball fall more. In other words, our eyes and
brain trick us into thinking the ball is rising.
This same phenomenon or principal can be applied to a batter facing a
left-handed pitcher. As hitters grow up, they do not face many left-handed
pitchers, especially quality ones. At the younger/lower levels of amateur
baseball, 90 percent of the pitches they see come from a pitcher throwing from
the right-hand side of the mound.
Most hitters do not develop the same comfort level facing left-handed pitchers
as they do right handers. This disparity continues up to and including the
major leagues. The same phenomenon also helps explain why some people believe
that pitches thrown by left-handed pitchers move (behave) differently than the
same pitch thrown by right-handed pitchers.
Mel Antonen has observed in USA Today that most left-handed prospects are
graded on a lower scale. "They get drafted when a right hander with similar
talent doesn't. They get more time to develop in the minor leagues. And if they
become established in the majors, they can turn a 10- or 15-year career into a
20-year run and pitch into their 40s."
In general, the velocity of left-handed pitchers is lower than that of right
handers. The average major league fastball is 88-90 mph. A right hander with an
average velocity less than 88 mph is more an exception than the rule. But a
significant number of successful left-handed pitchers throw fastballs in the
86-88 mph range, especially those who are considered left-handed
“specialists.”
Left handers who don't have good fastballs have another possible advantage:
Hitters dial in their swings to the pitch speed they most often see. At the
major league level, it is typically an 88-90 mph fastball. A left hander
throwing in the 84-86 mph range can upset a hitter's timing, especially if the
hitter doesn't see left handers frequently. But MLB hitters will adjust
(that’s why they’re MLB hitters) and it's not unusual for a left hander (or
right hander) to get through the order the first time and encounter problems
the second time through.
All of which would appear to be the good fortune of being a left-handed pitcher
. But there is a nasty potential side effect: A left hander may never really
have to learn how to throw the baseball.
What constitutes effective pitching?
In my previous article, I made the point that you throw baseball without
pitching it but you can't pitch a baseball without throwing it. I also said
pitching instruction is everything that is necessary to defeat the batter,
whereas throwing instruction is how to optimally move the ball through time and
space. And, the article said, "pitching mechanics" is really a misnomer. It
should be referred to as throwing mechanics.
In trying to better understand how the body optimally throws the baseball, I
distinguish between skills and abilities. The skill of getting the batter out
is the skill of pitching. Attributes that are important to developing the skill
of pitching are demonstrated in the following diagram.
左投手是棒球中的谜。每支球队都想要有左投但却很少人知道要怎么栽培他们。即使
是不是那么好的左投也有可能出现在某些球队的牛棚。大多数的左投被认为是软球投
手或是控球大师，而那些有能力和打者正面对决的则被当成是珍宝。在小联盟中只有
很少的这种强力左投而且他们在新秀排名中总是名列前矛。
—Baseball Examiner
在我这一系列文章的第一篇“A Bridge Too Far”，我开始试图寻找Barry Zito消失的速
球。Zito球速消失的原因是从没学会有效率丢球的结果。Zito"消失的速球"(的原因)就是
丢球机制的原理和塑造一位成功的大联盟投手的要素(这两著的结合)。因此在找寻答案之
前我们需要先了解这两点。
一般认为左投比右投更占优势。为什么？这里的秘密就像是所有关于投球机制的疑问。举
例而言，许多棒球选手相信左投和右投的球移动不同。有些甚至会告诉你说左右投的不同
之处在于左脑和右脑的不同，而左投都是一些怪胎。
我对左投感兴趣的原因是因为他们可以有比较差的球速却依然能立足。了解左投投球的方
式和研究成功的慢速球投手能告诉我们身体是如何丢球的。
从研究过去最成功的投手的影片，我了解到什么是"最理想的身体的丢球方式"。
名人堂左投Herb Pennock和Carl Hubbell不是所谓的传统的左投。他们知道如何丢球。
我认为左投比右投更占优势的原因就像是所谓"上飘速球"的原理。物理学告诉我们速球是
不可能上升的，但跟Nolan Ryan对决过的打者却都信誓旦旦的说他们看到球上飘了。这是
因为Ryan的100mph速球下降的比其他人的90mph速球更少，但打者却以为这两者的下降幅度
应该一样。换句话说，我们的大脑被自己的想法欺骗了。
同样的事也发在左投身上。在打者的成长过程中他们很少遇到左投，特别是好的左投。因
此，大多数的打者在遭遇左投时就不像他们在面对右投时那样自在。这种情形也一直持续
到大联盟的层级中。这也解释了为什么有些人认为从左边投出来的球看起来就是和从右边
投出来的球不一样。
Mel Antonen注意到"USA Today"对左投新秀评判的标准较低。"他们有较高的选秀顺位、有
更多的成长时间、他们也有更长的大联盟生涯"。
一般说来，左投的球速比右投来得更慢。大联盟平均球速大约是88-90 mph。球速低于
88mph的右投通常就被认为是慢速球投手。但却有一堆成功的左投球速在86-88 mph之间打
转。特别是那些被认为是"左投中的霸主"的人。
慢速球左投还有一项可能的优势：他们太慢的球速能扰乱打者的节奏，特别是对那些很少
面对左投的打者。但大联盟打者调整的很快，常常可以见到(慢球)投手顺利解决第一轮的
打者但却在第二轮时碰上麻烦。
以上这些看来都是当一位左投的好处，但这有可能造成一个不好的影响：一位左投很有可
能从来都学不会怎样(有效率)的投球。
什么构成了有效率的投球？
在先前的文章中我提到过投球和丢球的相关性。我也有提到说"投球"是要尽一切可能去解
决打者，而"丢球指导"是去学习最理想(有效率)的丢球方式。还有，"投球机制"是个误称
。它应该被称为"丢球机制"。
为了要更容易了解什么是有效率的投球方式，我把"能力"和"技巧"区分开来。解决打者的
"能力"就是投球的"能力"。三个重要的特质影响了投球能力的培养。
(待续...)