Pitchers Hands

How large were Nolan Ryan's hands?

CADAD

I have no idea but he did not have "stuff" like Pedro

Not to mention that he was just a bit better than a .500 pitcher ( 324-292 )--he had longevity and a great fastball but he didnt have "stuff" like others

I am talking here of guys who have fantasic ball movement and "stuff"

TRhit,
You missed my point, which is not surprising since I didn't make it very well at all. I agree that long fingers can help a pitcher get more movement on a fastball. However, Ryan did have a very good curve ball so it probably isn't necessary to have long fingers to throw a good curve. Ryan's big problem was that he couldn't take enough off his change because the grip wasn't different enough from his fastball. The ball was already back in his palm on a fastball because he had small hands and since he really didn't need any more movement on the fastball he was looking for more control. Late in his career he went to a circle change and was able to take more off the pitch resulting in a good changeup to go with the curve making him a much better pitcher. My son who gets fairly good movement despite small hands has the same problem with his change only getting a 5 mph difference most of the time. I'm hoping that as his hands grow he'll pick up a bit more velocity on his fastball as a result as well as more of a difference on the change.

He was just a bit better than a .500 pitcher but he also had one of the best career ERAs of all meaning that if he'd pitched for better teams he would have won more games. I used the just over .500 argument once with bbscout and he pointed out Ryan's career ERA to me.

So here's the answer: Once they are old enough they need to work on the curve, they need to experiment with changeup grips and focus on the change in speed more than the movement, and they need to take advantage of being able to have better location because of less movement.

There are very few pitchers with nasty movement who don't end up having days where their control is off because of all the movement.

All in all, given a choice I'd rather have the long fingers and Pedro's ability to bend his fingers back, but having small hands is really not much of a handicap it just requires a different approach.

There is no doubt that long fingers help. So does being 6'7", etc. The key is that every hard thrower has adapted his body to maximize his ability. Thats why you see so many exceptions to the height rule, arm length, etc. Thats why there isn't a set rule on pitching mechanics. Ask three pitching coaches and you get three different answers (admittedly similar). Hudson has to scap. load like a spider to maximize his velocity. Randy Johnson looks like he is playing catch (again, 6'7").

My 14yo has fingers as long as mine, his catch was complaining last night about the movement on his splitter, he grinned at the managers and said I prefer his curve I know where it's going.

HC dad,

Not to cause a ruckus but...why do you have a 14 y.o. throwing a splitter?

Greg Maddux and Rod Beck have very small hands. In fact, Beck's fingers are so short they almost look strange, yet his out pitch was the split. I have quite long fingers and I shook hands with Nolan Ryan, and his hands are not small. I have read a few places where it has been said that he has small hands, but that is incorrect. Being 6'7" is not a big help either as there are not more than a handful of real good pitchers who are/were that tall.Every organization has real tall pitchers in their system, but most of the guys who turn out to be great are not anywhere near 6'7".

I think that as pitchers get taller it becomes more difficult to have quite as good of command. When your lever arms are longer it is easier to throw faster but the "mistakes" also get magnified.

Pitching of course is a mix of velocity, location and movement so if being tall gives you an advantage in one area it tends to take it away in another. That's why you have Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson who have been such dominant pitchers, yet have such different physiques. That is one of the things that makes baseball such a great sport.

quote:

Originally posted by redbird5:
HC dad,

Not to cause a ruckus but...why do you have a 14 y.o. throwing a splitter?

He actually was able to learn this pitch and throw it for strikes before he was able to with the Change Up. He has been working hard on developing the change and is using more ofter. These are the two off speed pitches he uses. He has begun throwing the Change more often now as he has begun to get the feel for the release. Frankly my 8 yo has a better change and that irritates his older brother and spurs him on in working on the change. Nothing like sibling rivalry. It was simply a decision to use the split over the change due to ability to throw it for strikes and then get it to fall out of the zone once the hitter had it in the back of his mind. He learned it this year, he basically spreads his long fingers at release and the ball tumbles out and dies at the plate, almost looks like a knuckle ball when it comes out. Weird,

I was under the impression that the splitter was bad on the arm. I also understand that a hurt arm can't be traced back to one particular picth.

I have been told that the splitter puts lots of strain on the arm. Is this a true statement?

if your fingers are split widely the pitch will have more movement but will cause alot of tension on the elbow and that is why most major leaguers dont throw it till there career is winding down because of the arm trouble it may cause but if fingers arent as spread and you throw it more like a fastball the pitch will not have as much movement but still can be effective and will have much less tension on the arm