Ah, yes, the question that just about every Yankee fan would like an answer to. There’s probably a lot wrong with the Japanese southpaw that the Yankees wish they could fix. But, there are also other things that seem to be more obvious, at least to me, that appear to be more correctable. All players, though, cannot correct all their flaws, and hence, that is where players are weeded out. So, whether Igawa can sort out his problems remains to be seen, but issues there are a plenty.
I went to see the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees opener on Thursday specifically to examine Igawa up close and personal to see what I could discover about “what is wrong with him.” Of course, he didn’t make it easy on me by proceeding to toss six perfect innings against Lehigh Valley before being subsequently being lifted in favor of Scott Patterson. So, yes, the task I had laid out was to break down what is wrong with a pitcher who had just steamrolled through six frames with 7 strikeouts and no walks. Most would be deterred, but not me. Find out more after the jump…
Kei Igawa does have more than enough pure stuff to get Triple-A hitters out, and that is exactly what he showed on Thursday. His fastball touched 92 MPH on a very chilly, windy night and his changeup ranged from 77-81 MPH. Even his often suspect breaking ball was working for him as well. But, I really do not think, nor do many baseball people, that his problems stem from a lack of weapons in his arsenal.
Whether Kei Igawa’s current mechanics are what worked for him in Japan I don’t know. What I do know, however, is that what he does now will make it very difficult for him to ever get the ball down in the strike zone against big league hitters.
Bottom line: Kei Igawa never fully transfers his weight over his front leg. I suppose you could call him a drop and drive pitcher, given his extreme back leg collapse, but it is simply not working too well. To put it another way, he is drop without the drive. I’ve laid out a few points as to why Igawa has struggled so much to locate his pitches down in the zone, which has been the general problem with him; he’s been up in the zone. Of course, my school of thought it just one school of thought, but I also believe some points I make are fairly standard pitching philosophies. Always keep in mind though, to keep an open mind when it comes to mechanical philosophies one way or another.
Point 1: Arm Speed
Kei Igawa is not blessed with tremendous arm speed. That is not an automatic point of ruining for a pitcher; some guys have it and some guys don’t. Igawa’s delivery is based on the work of his legs. All his workouts are directed towards his legs and all of his mechanics are built around leg drive. But, one major issue is that Igawa’s arm cannot catch up to his immensely long stride. He never truly gathers himself at his balance point. In fact, that is really not a problem. I love the aggressive nature and momentum he has going into his release. However, to succeed with such a fast paced delivery, you need to be in a special class. Pitchers who have that electric quick arm and have an aggressive, violent weight transfer toward the plate are an entirely different case. These pitchers are some of the big leagues’ most successful hurlers, but Igawa does not have the two parts of this winning formula to make it work. He never comes to a stop at his balance point and the arm simply can never catch up to the lower half.
It’s simple physics from this point on. If a pitcher’s arm is not keeping up with the rest of his delivery, he’s making it very difficult on himself to drive the ball on a downward plan low in the zone. Arm speed is generally a gift for a pitcher, so I don’t believe that fixing that is an option.
Point 2: Stride Length
A long stride used properly can produce outstanding results but it is also a good place to start looking for problems for a pitcher who has had as many struggles as Kei Igawa has. His stride length is about equal to his height. The main problem I have though is that he is reaching so far with his front front that it’s causing his front hip to open up early. Try it for yourself. Stand in the middle of the room and reach as far as you can with your foot. If you reach far enough, your hips will begin to turn. If those hips are opening up, he’s striding too far and losing much of that power he has stored on his back leg. You don’t want to see a pitcher’s hips squaring up too early in his delivery or before he can begin to employ his leg drive.
All that is definitely a problem in regards to Igawa’s stride, but there is also a far more key issue that I touched on briefly in point 1. The longer a pitcher’s stride is, the more leg drive they need to get leverage and throw over their front side. This lefty has the long stride, and the leg drive, but not enough to overcome just how long that stride is. Combined with his arm having trouble keeping up, it is quite a challenge for Igawa to use that front leg as a post of sorts in which he can vault his swing his weight over. With his stride being as long as it is, he’s just making it very hard on himself to firm up that front leg and create a downward plane. This image illustrates that struggle pretty well.
Also, take a look at how low Igawa’s actual release point is being as spread out as he is. Not much downward plane going on there is there?
Point 3 - Front Leg
Take a look at Igawa’s stride leg upon release of the ball. It’s bent at nearly a 90 degree angle. In fact, it looks like there’s as much resistance pushing backwards as there is pushing forward. He’s making it very difficult on himself to transfer his weight toward the hitter. At not point in his delivery does that front leg ever completely straighten out so that he can bring the rest of his body and arm over the top. Ever hear youth and high school coaches tell pitchers to stay tall? It applies at all levels. Igawa delivers the ball essentially from a crouched position that Jeff Bagwell could be proud of. Except, for a pitcher, it is hard to get much leverage from down there.
Also take note of how Igawa’s leg swings open as oppose to just a normal stride forward. This also causes his hips to prematurely open. By doing this, he is causing his front foot to turn open also. Notice that his foot lands very hard on his heel and not on the ball of his foot. Because he is landing on his heel, as he begins to drive with his legs, his heel will rotate slightly before the rest of his foot comes down. It’s a small millisecond but that is more time for his front side to premature open up. Especially since he is a leg drive oriented pitcher this is especially true, but a pitcher’s upper body and arm follow and are dictated by the actions of the lower body.
Point 4 - Pie Throwing
The term “pie thrower” is scouting jargon for a pitcher who has his palm somewhat under the ball rather than on top. Igawa is a classic example. His arm action is not a thing of beauty; it’s quite stiff and seems to merely be along for the ride with his lower half. His “pie throwing” is more than likely a simple result of his lower half mechanical flaws.
Summation
I gave Kei Igawa a very hard time in this piece because that was the point of this article. Small flaws were magnified and examined. So, no, these flaws are not as monstrous as they may sound. Right about now, no one is too interested in “what is great about Kei Igawa”. People want to know why he hasn’t succeeded. Of course, there are reasons far beyond just his delivery mechanics that he’s failed in the big leagues thus far. But, since it’s been becoming more and more evident that his main chink in the armor has been pitching up in the zone, I thought exploring why that’s been happening would be interesting.
There is actually a lot to like about Kei Igawa, so Yankee fans, don’t quit just yet. I think a lot could be resolved for Kei with a shortening of his stride. I really like the momentum and aggression in his drive towards the plate. I would just prefer that that drive be much more downhill. His stuff, down in the zone, can be effective. Whoever scouted and signed him didn’t get that completely wrong. Perhaps what they did not anticipate was the trouble he’d having in changing his mechanics. Although he dominated a Triple-A lineup on Thursday, there was not a truly dramatic change in his location; he was up a lot. So, it begs the question; will he come to the realization that his delivery works at Triple-A and in Japan but not at the MLB level? Only time will tell.
I hope this was good food for thought for Yankee fans especially. Kei Igawa is not a lost cause, despite the fact that all I did was point to his flaws. Besides his lack of arm speed, they are all correctable problems. Will he make the adjustments, however? That I do not know.
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23 responses so far ↓
1 jscape2000 // Apr 4, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Brilliant breakdown. My followup question for you is a simple one: if you shorten Igawa’s stride won’t that effect the depth of his pitches?
2 fpiliere44 // Apr 4, 2008 at 8:03 pm
It could. Bottom line is that it is very tricky to tweak a guy’s mechanics that drastically. A stride is a major component so a lot of things could happen, but I think they have to try it if they ever expect any results from him. His stuff is enough to work in Triple-A, but the same pitches I saw him throw might get hit harder in the bigs.
3 fpiliere44 // Apr 4, 2008 at 10:30 pm
John, thanks for the plug….appreciate it big time.
4 River Ave. Blues | What’s wrong with Kei Igawa? // Apr 5, 2008 at 11:08 am
[…] season opener to take a look at the Kei-man, and figured out what’s wrong with him: A whole lot. It makes sense that it’s not just one big problem with Igawa, it’s a bunch of smaller […]
5 ej877 // Apr 5, 2008 at 11:27 am
On one broadcast last season the announcers were saying something about how Igawa would bend his plant leg, and drop his right shoulder before releasing the ball.
The end result being he would “throw up” so to speak, leaving everything he would throw-up in the hitters zone.
This theory kind of confirms your breakdown, now hopefully he can correct his mechanical flaws in order to “throwdown”.
6 ej877 // Apr 5, 2008 at 11:33 am
oops I meant his left (back) shoulder. sorry…
7 m. patel // Apr 5, 2008 at 12:44 pm
First off, I would just like to say great blog and keep up the good work.
This post is great and I never realized that it was all of these small things that Igawa was struggling with that added up to his bad performances. I know you said that only time will tell if he can one day become successful in the MLB, but what do you think personally. Do you think that he will be able to change his mechanics before he loses his opportunity? If so, how long does it usually take a pitcher to change their mechanics in the way that Igawa has to?
I am sure Igawa has coaches telling him this kind of stuff all the time, but just for insurance maybe he should read this :p
8 jyates129 // Apr 6, 2008 at 12:02 am
I’m not sure he does have coaches telling him this stuff all the time. If he does, and hasn’t worked to make these changes, than the Yankees truly did light a pile of money on fire hiring a guy with a bad attitude. Eat this one and go hard after Yu Darvish the second he becomes available. I have never for one second had any amount of faith in Kei Igawa. The first game I went to at the Stadium last year was his first start. I came in the second inning and it was already 4-0 Orioles. Granted A-Rod bailed him out with a 9th inning grand-slam, he was painful to watch. Almost like watching Mike Mussina trying to throw 84mph fastballs by people. Who knows? Maybe Igawa makes the turn around someday. I say send him home to Japan where he had success. He had a pitching coach the caliber of Dave Eiland working with him incessantly last year and nothing changed. He looked awful in the spring. Perhaps a silly question, what would happen if he changed his arm slot to a low 3/4? Do you think that would do anything to improve his location and effectiveness given the nature of his leg drive?
9 fpiliere44 // Apr 6, 2008 at 12:30 am
I really have to think the Yankees know of these problems, as their coaching staff knows far more than I. I think it’s mainly an issue of…this is what he’s always done and had success with and he probably wants to sink or float with it.
A switch two 3/4 COULD do something, but every pitcher reacts different to various tweaks. Since it’s such a struggle for him to get over the top, dropping down could ease that.
That being said, these are very odd mechanics compared to a typical American pitching school of thought. The Japanese pitchers that we’ve seen have been a lot different from the norm so it’s probably a big unknown when messing with a guy like that.
10 Jeremy Darnell // Apr 6, 2008 at 2:56 am
I personally see nothing of benefit coming to the Yankees. If he drops his arm angle then he may get hit even harder by righties, given a longer look. I hope the guy can salvage a big-league career, he seems like a decent dude, but he’s never learned to pitch. I had heard rumblings to that effect long before he arrived stateside, but in the eternal words of my grandfather, “his stuff is ain’t what it was.”
11 GoYankees // Apr 6, 2008 at 11:07 am
If he drops down, his curveball might flatten. Then he might be tougher on lefties but righties would tee off on what’s left.
Best bet, given his inability to adjust, is to trade him back to Japan where he would still be an all-star.
12 jyates129 // Apr 6, 2008 at 11:27 am
Not saying the Yankees guys didn’t catch these mechanical errors, I just don’t necessarily think that anyone is telling him that he needs a serious mechanical make-over. They constantly present it as: “he just needs a couple of tweaks in his delivery and he’ll have success in the majors,” because they don’t want to admit their mistake in picking him up. Like I said, they might as well have lit a pile of money on fire for all they’ll get in return.
13 The LoHud Yankees Blog // Apr 7, 2008 at 12:14 am
[…] could be more to it than that, I will admit. The guys at Saber Scouting have some theories of their own that are […]
14 Derek // Apr 7, 2008 at 8:03 am
Counting this spring:
Igawa with shades, 7.1IP 13H 10ER 6K 7BB 1HBP
Igawa without shades 15.0IP 7H 0ER 19K 4BB…
Maybe its more simple than you think…
15 iopsc // Apr 7, 2008 at 9:16 am
I think the Yankees are well aware of his mechanical flaws and thought that they could fix them. Most of the comments from management regarding the work Igawa has done have referenced his mechanics. Given that is delivery has not materially changed since last year, you have to ask what it will take to get through to him.
FP hit the nail on the head, his upper body is behind his lower body during his delivery. In essence, his torso is still facing up when he releases the ball- no wonder his is an up in the zone pitcher.
If he shortens his stride, how will the change affect velocity ?
Best,
Ross
16 Game 7. Pregame Thoughts. Think you could afford Joe D.’s rookie uniform? // Apr 7, 2008 at 12:04 pm
[…] http://saberscouting.com/2008/04/04/what-is-wrong-with-kei-igawa/ […]
17 Burt // Apr 7, 2008 at 12:19 pm
My first exposure to Saber-Scouting. A very interesting and informative look at the detailed mechanical analysis of pitching in general. Not to nitpick but… re “Excrutiatingly” Detailed Reports, if you drop the “t” between the “u” and the “i”, and then transfer the weight of the remaining letters back towards the release point of the word, you will shorten the overall word stride by one letter and archive the correct spelling of excruciatingly. Thanks for a great blog.
18 Steve Mills // Apr 7, 2008 at 12:26 pm
If FP/IOPSC are right (his upper body is behind his lower body during his delivery…his torso is still facing up when he releases the ball…) and Derek’s numbers are real (Igawa with shades, 7.1IP 13H 10ER 6K 7BB 1HBP; Igawa without shades 15.0IP 7H 0ER 19K 4BB), maybe the root of the problem is he’s scared that his shades will fall off.
19 phuongnana // Apr 7, 2008 at 7:49 pm
CONGRATULATIONS from
blogrank.info for the hot post
20 Babe's Ghost // Apr 8, 2008 at 1:37 am
Excellent post. Much as I love the NYT, the MSM can’t keep up. Keep it coming, I will be following you from now on.
21 R S // May 16, 2008 at 9:54 am
I respectfully disagree with you on many of these points. For starters, most pitchers do not pause at the “balance point”. Check it out. I don’t know why people still propagate this “balance point” myth, the film shows that most pro-pitchers do not pause. This isn’t a cause of Igawa’s struggles.
Many top MLB pitchers also do not straighten their front leg upon landing and release. By straightening it, you may generate more velocity, but its not necessary to be a top pitcher. Look it up.
As far as “pie throwing” is concerned, this is another one of those myths that has been debunked by video as well. Loads of great pitcher lead with their elbow and “throw pies”.
His mechanics are similar to other, successful pitchers. I disagree that his mechanics are the source of his problems.
22 What’s Next For Igawa? » NPB Tracker // Jul 29, 2008 at 1:06 am
[…] and found a clip of him getting 3A batters out and, more interestingly, this scouting report that breaks down why he might be struggling. The writer hypothesizes that Igawa’s mechanics make it hard for him to get the ball down in […]
23 Is Kei Igawa a good fit through Rule 5? : motorcitybengals.com // Nov 24, 2008 at 7:01 pm
[…] 92 MPH and has a great changeup that sits anywhere between 77-81 MPH. The major issue with Igawa seems to be his delivery. When his stuff is working though, he could well be worth an add to the 25 man roster. The Tigers […]
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