Maybe it’s just me but that theory about feeling a twinge when he throws the slider seems like it might have some traction to me. To the armchair psychologist in me, CC seems like the kind of guy who would think he could muscle through a season throwing only fastball/changeup.

This is interesting…I thought he was throwing fewer sliders. Not sure if it’s a case of injury or if he’s struggling throwing it the right way.

I’ve always thought that CC has more success when he throws with a higher arm angle. He went to this more in 2005 and it really helped his command and his slider got more tilt. It became a true swing-and-miss slider. To me, he’s throwing from a lower arm angle now, though to be fair I thought he did some of that last year too.

When he throws from a lower arm angle, he gets under his slider and it turns into more of a curve…has more of a hump to it. I think batters are able to pick that up much more easily, so it’s not as good of a swing-and-miss pitch. Also, I think his fastball has a little more sink at a higher arm angle, and he’s able to get more ground balls. His GB % is way down this year too.

Now this is all conjecture…I don’t have any video machines or games from last year where I can compare his delivery…and I’m certainly not a pitching coach. But to me, it appears that he’s throwing with a lower arm angle. And if he’s having less success with the slider, that explains why he’s throwing more fastballs with two strikes. The article says he’s given up a 31% hit % after reaching an 0-2 count, which is insane. And if he’s having trouble getting the fastball on the inside corner, then that makes his changeup less effective.

The anatomy of how a pitcher struggles…or just a bunch of hot air. :)

I suppose it’s also possible that the change in arm angle, if real, is a response to a “twinge.” Still, you’d think the Indians staff would have noticed something as easy to spot as a change in arm angle and you’d think that Victor would be signalling CC to come over the top more during games when he’s struggling. I haven’t seen that myself, but perhaps I missed it.