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.
左投手是棒球中的謎。每支球隊都想要有左投但卻很少人知道要怎麼栽培他們。即使
是不是那麼好的左投也有可能出現在某些球隊的牛棚。大多數的左投被認為是軟球投
手或是控球大師，而那些有能力和打者正面對決的則被當成是珍寶。在小聯盟中只有
很少的這種強力左投而且他們在新秀排名中總是名列前矛。
—Baseball Examiner
在我這一系列文章的第一篇“A Bridge Too Far”，我開始試圖尋找Barry Zito消失的速
球。Zito球速消失的原因是從沒學會有效率丟球的結果。Zito"消失的速球"(的原因)就是
丟球機制的原理和塑造一位成功的大聯盟投手的要素(這兩著的結合)。因此在找尋答案之
前我們需要先了解這兩點。
一般認為左投比右投更佔優勢。為什麼？這裡的秘密就像是所有關於投球機制的疑問。舉
例而言，許多棒球選手相信左投和右投的球移動不同。有些甚至會告訴你說左右投的不同
之處在於左腦和右腦的不同，而左投都是一些怪胎。
我對左投感興趣的原因是因為他們可以有比較差的球速卻依然能立足。了解左投投球的方
式和研究成功的慢速球投手能告訴我們身體是如何丟球的。
從研究過去最成功的投手的影片，我了解到什麼是"最理想的身體的丟球方式"。
名人堂左投Herb Pennock和Carl Hubbell不是所謂的傳統的左投。他們知道如何丟球。
我認為左投比右投更佔優勢的原因就像是所謂"上飄速球"的原理。物理學告訴我們速球是
不可能上升的，但跟Nolan Ryan對決過的打者卻都信誓旦旦的說他們看到球上飄了。這是
因為Ryan的100mph速球下降的比其他人的90mph速球更少，但打者卻以為這兩者的下降幅度
應該一樣。換句話說，我們的大腦被自己的想法欺騙了。
同樣的事也發在左投身上。在打者的成長過程中他們很少遇到左投，特別是好的左投。因
此，大多數的打者在遭遇左投時就不像他們在面對右投時那樣自在。這種情形也一直持續
到大聯盟的層級中。這也解釋了為什麼有些人認為從左邊投出來的球看起來就是和從右邊
投出來的球不一樣。
Mel Antonen注意到"USA Today"對左投新秀評判的標準較低。"他們有較高的選秀順位、有
更多的成長時間、他們也有更長的大聯盟生涯"。
一般說來，左投的球速比右投來得更慢。大聯盟平均球速大約是88-90 mph。球速低於
88mph的右投通常就被認為是慢速球投手。但卻有一堆成功的左投球速在86-88 mph之間打
轉。特別是那些被認為是"左投中的霸主"的人。
慢速球左投還有一項可能的優勢：他們太慢的球速能擾亂打者的節奏，特別是對那些很少
面對左投的打者。但大聯盟打者調整的很快，常常可以見到(慢球)投手順利解決第一輪的
打者但卻在第二輪時碰上麻煩。
以上這些看來都是當一位左投的好處，但這有可能造成一個不好的影響：一位左投很有可
能從來都學不會怎樣(有效率)的投球。
什麼構成了有效率的投球？
在先前的文章中我提到過投球和丟球的相關性。我也有提到說"投球"是要盡一切可能去解
決打者，而"丟球指導"是去學習最理想(有效率)的丟球方式。還有，"投球機制"是個誤稱
。它應該被稱為"丟球機制"。
為了要更容易了解什麼是有效率的投球方式，我把"能力"和"技巧"區分開來。解決打者的
"能力"就是投球的"能力"。三個重要的特質影響了投球能力的培養。
(待續...)