Post #4 by ofahn » July 16th, 2012, 11:58 am
When I had initially seen that line score I was drawn to our one hit. I hope you didn't miss it by going to the BR.
Vader reminds me of pitcher that could break out IF he focuses on two things:
Build his legs and core muscles
Work overtime to make his change up delivery mirror his FB
Vader should watch video of guys like Jamie Moyer. He never threw hard but that change up of his kept batters so off balance that he was effective. If you throw a FB in the low 90s and can throw your change up about ten MPH slower with the same motion your FB looks about 100 to a batter, and you will have a ML career.
This season should be a good learning experience for him, but this off season will show how much he wants to be a ML pitcher. I don't think he's ready for the AFL yet so he will have the Winter to work on his conditioning and delivery. I know from experience that you can work on your delivery without putting much strain on your throwing muscles. In fact, if it's done right, you can actually strengthen them.
I have felt for years that this team should invest in two off season mini camps for its most promising prospects. About two weeks in early November and two more in early January. This would allow the instructors to monitor each player's progress and verify that they are following the regimen given them, along with making any mid course corrections.
If we were to pay the kids the AAA daily rate and per diem and pay for them to bring a significant other most players would be very enthusiastic about attending. With the additional pay for the instructors we're talking about an expense of around 300K. A bargain if it produces just one more ML player every other year.
