The Mechanics of Dodgers Draft Prospect Kevin Gausman
Keven Gausman — here is a guy who intrigues me, not so much for his stuff, but more for his athleticism and mechanics and to a lesser extent his projection and body type. He certainly has room to grow, add muscle, and get stronger, but he has also has a thin frame.
From a stuff standpoint, I understand he’s been inconsistent. During the Summer, Gausman was throwing a low – mid 90′s fastball and flashing a promising breaking ball, but his stuff has been down somewhat this Spring, with his fastball more in the 88 – 92 range. I haven’t seen enough of Gausman’s repertoire to really get a feel for what kind of stuff he possesses.
However, mechanically, he reminds me a lot of Homer Bailey or Ervin Santana and I thought it would be a good idea to break down Gausman’s mechanics and also compare each pitcher and see where Gausman could make some adjustments in an effort to increase and maintain his velocity, if he were comfortable in doing so.
*Credit to MLB Advanced Media
I’ll describe the key identifiers I associate with this type of delivery. You have an upright posture with the leg coming up — as the leg reaches its uppermost point, everything becomes compact and with little loss of momentum, the front leg comes down and extends out as the back leg gets into more of a sitting position. One of the keys to this delivery is how rhythmic it is. It’s a smooth delivery with little wasted motion.
Gausman’s delivery from a tempo standpoint is a little slower than Bailey’s (around 21 frames) and Santana’s (around 24 frames), so that’s an area that he could improve as he’s right now around 26 or 27 frames.
*Credit to VegasScout and to MLB Advanced Media
Another area of difference is the kick-out, which initiates an aggressive rotation of the hips. You can see how Bailey and Santana’s front leg fully extends before rotating into foot plant, while Gausman maintains a small bend in his front leg. While Gausman’s kick-out is softer, he does seem to take a more rotational path into foot plant, which some prefer over the more linear mechanics of Bailey and Santana.
One last key difference is how Bailey and — to a great extent — Santana have a more bend as you break motion, where the torso bends over slightly at the waist as the hands break and then springs up just before foot plant, leading to additional torque between the torso and hips. Nevertheless, Gausman achieves excellent separation between his torso and hips and he does so by slightly reverse rotating his shoulders.
The best attribute of Gausman’s mechanics may be his arm action, which is clean, efficient, and conducive for velocity.
Gausman is projected to be a first round pick in the June, 2010 draft.
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