I think this is the guy Brent Strom said trained with a disciple of Mike Marshall and has tried to mix Marshall’s ideas with traditional pitching motion. As Brent said “A partial Marshall.” This may explain the long arm action.

Here is Mr Strom’s reply to me about a presentation at Wolforth’s coach’s clinic.

Me:I just received the videos the 2009 Pitching Central Pitching Coaches Boot Camp. You were talking about “partial Marshall” mechainics. Watching Nix’s presentation and it seemed that he was pretty much straight Marshall technique.

Strom:Believe he is still beholding to Marshall, doesn’t want to deviate away too much for whatever reason but I have seen his pitchers in action, training and if one didn’t know what to look for in the delivery one wouldn’t know that there was some Marshall in it. The term “partial marshall” actually comes from another guy who is certified in the Marshall technique and offers both to his clients. Just so happens one of his clients at age 12 started the partial and he was a #1 draft choice this past year. (Maztek)

you can contact him at Bstrom6000@aol.com

John

I can see a few similarities between Matzek and Lester, but the differences stand out to me most.

The arm actions are sorta similar, but Lester breaks his hands later and starts his arm circle from a lower spot. Both are straight-armers in a sense, though Lester really defines that quality. The other big difference I notice is the posture when the arm reaches vertical. You’ll notice Matzek’s chest is puffed out and his back is on a curve. In Lester’s case he’s much more upright.

I actually think the comparison is a pretty solid one, but not a perfect one. I haven’t found that perfect comparison for Matzek yet.

Great stuff here, I am new to your site and must say I am very impressed and hope you keep the quality pieces coming. As for Maztek, does his delivery remind you of Lester? I could not help but notice similar action through his stride and core, as well as the release point.

With that said, you’re right about the lower body…he doesn’t use it well. And his frame bothers me as well. He’s described as projectable, but his frame is thin and skinny pitchers tend to breakdown at a higher rate than other body types. He’s got a lot of good qualities to him and his upside is certainly high, but there is some definite risk to drafting Purke, especially at that price range.

Are the Cardinals showing interest in him? He doesn’t seem like the type of pitcher they’d draft.