Your content is the secret sauce! I love hearing your combination of data analysis and baseball knowledge. People like you who love the game will keep it alive. Can’t wait for more.
Lukey Pookie is MOTHERING Brainrot aside, I remember his first start as a Yankee last year, where he was a bit shakey but yielded a serviceable result. I was really rooting for the guy knowing how he was once a top prospect whose career was on the downturn. Look at him now. Baseball is a wild game.
I was too. and I LOVED that Cole took him under the wing in the dugout. I mean the stuff was there. Only a fool couldn't see it. It just needed to be harnessed.
I always thought the changeup was called a changeup because it’s a pitch that’s supposed to look like the fastball but then comes in way slower and disrupting the hitters timing. But with the increase in velocity, it almost seems like movement has become a far more important factor than speed differential (Felix Hernandez, Greinke). Weaver’s changeup, from the slow motion video of the release you showed, almost looks like a split. Would be interesting to see a deep dive on the evolution of the changeup through the decades. Maybe an idea for an off season video? Love your channel and your work
That grip looks like a vulcan change (fingers oriented in the Vulcan salute). Usually gets more downward action and less armside, although he doesn't seem to have that problem. It's honestly one of my favorite obscure pitch grips, especially since I used to throw one.
Good idea, I'll put it on my list. Would definitely require some digging with sources as to what was preferred back in the early 2000s and such. In today's game, the template I laid out in the video is pretty standard, with the primary focusing on chasing a large depth difference while throwing the pitch hard relative to a fastball. But this is also not an easy thing to do from my understanding. So the focus goes back to location and I do think this is one of the few pitches where the "sell" of the pitch really matters. A lot of changeups don't grade well but perform well, telling us that something happens which stuff models aren't able to capture with the traditional measures that grade breaking balls pretty well. The visual element of changeups matter (I think) too. There are a lot of 4S oriented changeups that grade horribly but post insane K rates. I made a video on this a while back that I have to update ( th-cam.com/video/QIa52IEOqkE/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=LanceBrozdowski).
Great video Lance, interesting to hear that teams go after fastball grips that can be changed and it must take a lot of commitment from the player to believe in the changes a team wants to implement
Yeah! That’s probably the toughest part. I imagine there are a lot of instances where a team isn’t able to actually get the information down to field level in order for the player to improve. Which makes it even more frustrating if that players goes somewhere else and immediately gets better (like Weaver).
Great breakdown of grip change, pitch selection, and seam shifted wake. It takes a lot of practice, I'm sure. And the pitcher would have to trust the coach and work hard to get used to all the changes. So, kudos to Blake for identifying the tweaks, and props to Weaver for being able to make all the changes - they elevated his game big time! And yeah the guy is really funny. Recent post-game interview (maybe in that first-round series against the Royals) Weaver said that he felt like a "jungle cat". So, maybe that's been a theme with him ever since his FSU days (in your clip he said that he wanted to be a leopard).
Another great video. When a relief pitcher would spike in performance like this 20 years ago, I feel like most people would just shrug and say "that's the bullpen for ya". Cool how much we are able to peel back the curtain nowadays
Yankees could have won 10 more games had he been promoted as closer a lot earlier in the season. It's not just the tweaks in his grip, approach, technique etc. It is also the mental strength he has.
I think the velo bump could be attributed to staying back a tiny bit and keeping his a bit higher to time up his release (and his lead leg block). On your side by side you can see his head stays "stacked" on his back hip a tad more.
Good catch! That lines up with what I'm seeing when I watch it back. I'm not the sharpest with biomech stuff (trying to get better), but I ran the lead leg stuff by a few people smarter than me and it seemed to pass the sniff test, so that's what I stuck with.
@@LanceBroz IMO the lead leg is just a symptom, it is lead to by something else in the delivery, for example staying back more (or less) or possibly faster pelvic rotation.
One thing I think you missed out on, especially with his velocity. You mentioned that he moved into the pen late in the season, that's not true - he was always a bullpen arm, initially considered as a sixth starter and long man, but he really never played that role. Because he has always been in the pen, he was able to throw harder because he didn't need to last for a starter's amount of innings, he could throw harder because he only had to pitch an inning or two.
Thanks for the correction. Think I meant to say "moved to the BACK END of the bullpen," which lines up with the Aug-Sep time period where his fastball usage jumped up to ~55% from sub ~45%, but I obviously did not say that in the video, so good to correct it here. And while the basic idea of SP to RP jumping velo 100% checks out, it doesn't usually add 2 ticks. So there's something else on the movement pattern side of things that changed for him, hence my attempt to try and unearth it.
I think it's an old version of this mic, nothing special! www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AT2020--audio-technica-at2020-cardioid-condenser-microphone?mrkgadid=&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=&mrkgbflag=&mrkgcat=&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=92700080605831403&lid=92700080605831403&ds_s_kwgid=58700008755805603&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=2529756768392&product_id=AT2020&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=c&network=g&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=9021743&creative=708783683163&targetid=aud-418160834130:pla-2529756768392&campaignid=21573890532&awsearchcpc=1&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwveK4BhD4ARIsAKy6pMJExCYeIqVfJWwyC3j8592j-GQv6zzIyCtQ53ewBO1rLP_-cQ4n77saAuZ4EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Hey Lance, great video! Do you think it is necessary for him to ditch his cutter for a hard slider with less velocity but more movement than his cutter? I think a pitch moving away to righties is needed for sustained elite pitching. What are your thoughts?
Don't he kinda look like that sniper guy from saving private ryan I'm a big yankees fan, and he has saved the bullpen. For awhile I thought at any moment he'd turn into a pumpkin and his Cinderella story would be over, but he might actually just be legit good
Say what you will about the rays, but the yankees also have an awesome ability to trade cheap for players and turn them around. Look at luke voit, wandy peralta, tauchman, weaver and more examples
Yep! Savant has started to phase out longform movement for the most part, so I think in time “vertical break” will mean “induced vertical break” going forward 👍
Clay Holmes as well, he was nothing special in Pittsburgh. Blake is incredible - seems so easy but it's not or every team would be doing it Thanks for this analysis Lance.
That’s a bunch of BS. His success came from surrounding him with $309 million per year in payroll and if he didn’t work out, the Yankees would look around the league to see somebody else who they could pay 2 million.
Simple. He wasn't a good candidate for a seam shifted wake sinker. The oldschool 4seam grip he uses now which focuses on max vert break was what he needed to throw all along. You see ge only got 1 inch extra horizontal movement of the seam shifted wake grip. He probably is a pronator at release, those extreme pronation guys dont do good with seam shifted sinkers
Um they had no other choice? Who else was gonna close? Cmon now, stop making this organization out to be geniuses, they let Holmes blow 10+ saves before they pulled his name out of a hat
We love luke weaver
What's up Bengal 👋🏽
DREAMMMMM WEAVERRRE
Your content is the secret sauce! I love hearing your combination of data analysis and baseball knowledge. People like you who love the game will keep it alive. Can’t wait for more.
Thanks! Appreciate the compliment
Matt Blake is a genius.
Lukey Pookie is MOTHERING
Brainrot aside, I remember his first start as a Yankee last year, where he was a bit shakey but yielded a serviceable result. I was really rooting for the guy knowing how he was once a top prospect whose career was on the downturn. Look at him now. Baseball is a wild game.
I understood like 40% of this comment, but yes I totally agree
I was too. and I LOVED that Cole took him under the wing in the dugout. I mean the stuff was there. Only a fool couldn't see it. It just needed to be harnessed.
I always thought the changeup was called a changeup because it’s a pitch that’s supposed to look like the fastball but then comes in way slower and disrupting the hitters timing. But with the increase in velocity, it almost seems like movement has become a far more important factor than speed differential (Felix Hernandez, Greinke). Weaver’s changeup, from the slow motion video of the release you showed, almost looks like a split. Would be interesting to see a deep dive on the evolution of the changeup through the decades. Maybe an idea for an off season video? Love your channel and your work
That grip looks like a vulcan change (fingers oriented in the Vulcan salute). Usually gets more downward action and less armside, although he doesn't seem to have that problem. It's honestly one of my favorite obscure pitch grips, especially since I used to throw one.
Good idea, I'll put it on my list. Would definitely require some digging with sources as to what was preferred back in the early 2000s and such.
In today's game, the template I laid out in the video is pretty standard, with the primary focusing on chasing a large depth difference while throwing the pitch hard relative to a fastball. But this is also not an easy thing to do from my understanding. So the focus goes back to location and I do think this is one of the few pitches where the "sell" of the pitch really matters. A lot of changeups don't grade well but perform well, telling us that something happens which stuff models aren't able to capture with the traditional measures that grade breaking balls pretty well.
The visual element of changeups matter (I think) too. There are a lot of 4S oriented changeups that grade horribly but post insane K rates. I made a video on this a while back that I have to update ( th-cam.com/video/QIa52IEOqkE/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=LanceBrozdowski).
Great video Lance, interesting to hear that teams go after fastball grips that can be changed and it must take a lot of commitment from the player to believe in the changes a team wants to implement
Yeah! That’s probably the toughest part. I imagine there are a lot of instances where a team isn’t able to actually get the information down to field level in order for the player to improve. Which makes it even more frustrating if that players goes somewhere else and immediately gets better (like Weaver).
Just subscribed today!!!
Love your content!!
Weaver is such a dawg we love him so much🔥🔥🔥🔥
Thanks for the sub 🔥
Mariano Weaver 😊
Awesome content! You really break everything down.
Excelente explicacion. Me suscribo a tu canal. Exitos!!!
This break downs are really good i just subscribed
Amazing channel keep up the great work
Thanks!
Good stuff, I subbed looking for some more great content in the future!
Great breakdown of grip change, pitch selection, and seam shifted wake. It takes a lot of practice, I'm sure. And the pitcher would have to trust the coach and work hard to get used to all the changes. So, kudos to Blake for identifying the tweaks, and props to Weaver for being able to make all the changes - they elevated his game big time!
And yeah the guy is really funny. Recent post-game interview (maybe in that first-round series against the Royals) Weaver said that he felt like a "jungle cat". So, maybe that's been a theme with him ever since his FSU days (in your clip he said that he wanted to be a leopard).
Another great video. When a relief pitcher would spike in performance like this 20 years ago, I feel like most people would just shrug and say "that's the bullpen for ya". Cool how much we are able to peel back the curtain nowadays
awesome content. I'm subscribing.
Yet another move that fans complained about that has worked fantastic.
You should cover Tim Hill next
Much appreciated thanks for your time.
i love that video of him in college!!!! i would be his friend just based on that, even if he was not a major league baseball player. :)
Yankees could have won 10 more games had he been promoted as closer a lot earlier in the season. It's not just the tweaks in his grip, approach, technique etc. It is also the mental strength he has.
I think the velo bump could be attributed to staying back a tiny bit and keeping his a bit higher to time up his release (and his lead leg block). On your side by side you can see his head stays "stacked" on his back hip a tad more.
Good catch! That lines up with what I'm seeing when I watch it back. I'm not the sharpest with biomech stuff (trying to get better), but I ran the lead leg stuff by a few people smarter than me and it seemed to pass the sniff test, so that's what I stuck with.
@@LanceBroz IMO the lead leg is just a symptom, it is lead to by something else in the delivery, for example staying back more (or less) or possibly faster pelvic rotation.
bro ur goated!
🔥🔥🔥
His grip change is literally the default grip for a 4 seam
I know! 😂 that’s why I find it so odd that he never used that in the past
One thing I think you missed out on, especially with his velocity. You mentioned that he moved into the pen late in the season, that's not true - he was always a bullpen arm, initially considered as a sixth starter and long man, but he really never played that role. Because he has always been in the pen, he was able to throw harder because he didn't need to last for a starter's amount of innings, he could throw harder because he only had to pitch an inning or two.
Thanks for the correction. Think I meant to say "moved to the BACK END of the bullpen," which lines up with the Aug-Sep time period where his fastball usage jumped up to ~55% from sub ~45%, but I obviously did not say that in the video, so good to correct it here.
And while the basic idea of SP to RP jumping velo 100% checks out, it doesn't usually add 2 ticks. So there's something else on the movement pattern side of things that changed for him, hence my attempt to try and unearth it.
DREAM WEAVER
What microphone do you use? Sounds great!
I think it's an old version of this mic, nothing special!
www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AT2020--audio-technica-at2020-cardioid-condenser-microphone?mrkgadid=&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=&mrkgbflag=&mrkgcat=&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=92700080605831403&lid=92700080605831403&ds_s_kwgid=58700008755805603&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=2529756768392&product_id=AT2020&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=c&network=g&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=9021743&creative=708783683163&targetid=aud-418160834130:pla-2529756768392&campaignid=21573890532&awsearchcpc=1&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwveK4BhD4ARIsAKy6pMJExCYeIqVfJWwyC3j8592j-GQv6zzIyCtQ53ewBO1rLP_-cQ4n77saAuZ4EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Might need a breakdown of gerrit coles new sinker
Hey Lance, great video! Do you think it is necessary for him to ditch his cutter for a hard slider with less velocity but more movement than his cutter? I think a pitch moving away to righties is needed for sustained elite pitching. What are your thoughts?
First video and I have seen of yours and it was the easiest subscription decision of my life. Keep up the great work man
Appreciate it! 🫡🫡🫡
Luke Weaver saved me
Good coaching for young pitchers is critical but few get it. Arm talent as proved here is not enough by itself.
Don't he kinda look like that sniper guy from saving private ryan
I'm a big yankees fan, and he has saved the bullpen. For awhile I thought at any moment he'd turn into a pumpkin and his Cinderella story would be over, but he might actually just be legit good
Please don’t stop making videos, these are banngera
🫡🫡🫡
Bangers sorry 😭
Really weird grip of the new change-up. Never seen that before
Look up a Vulcan change, looks similar to that.
Say what you will about the rays, but the yankees also have an awesome ability to trade cheap for players and turn them around. Look at luke voit, wandy peralta, tauchman, weaver and more examples
I'm a Yankees fan but Ohtani scares the life out of me.
When you said Vertical Break I assume your talking about Induced Vertical Break?
Yep! Savant has started to phase out longform movement for the most part, so I think in time “vertical break” will mean “induced vertical break” going forward 👍
Dream weaver we all. Love him
Weaver could throw harder if those balls of steel weren’t weighing him down.
Matt Blake thank you for fixing Luke and Clay!!! 😂
What happened to Cardiac Clay? How did he get worse?
Clay Holmes as well, he was nothing special in Pittsburgh.
Blake is incredible - seems so easy but it's not or every team would be doing it
Thanks for this analysis Lance.
Yep! I made a video on him a few years ago: Clay Holmes and The Sweeper
th-cam.com/video/xdV116GWmnA/w-d-xo.html
The Yankees got him right
Luke Weaver comes to Yankees better and better😊
Matt Blake I love you
uh oh
Mariano Weaver? I know, I know...
I'am willing to bet 50 k this dude has been watching yamamoto 😂😂😂
Hopefully he can be what Mariano Rivera was when he played the Yankees.
Unfortunately there will Never be another Mariano! I would love to see him cement his own spot in Yankees history.
That’s a bunch of BS. His success came from surrounding him with $309 million per year in payroll and if he didn’t work out, the Yankees would look around the league to see somebody else who they could pay 2 million.
Two Words:
Matt Blake
They slowed him down. His delivery is definitely slower then before
I think weaver had good stuff it just teams didn't know how to use him
let's make him the next mariano rivera
Kinda disappointed the last chapter wasn’t named “Luke Weaver is a Clown”
lol would’ve been better, I agree
I’ll let Matt Blake do anything
Simple. He wasn't a good candidate for a seam shifted wake sinker. The oldschool 4seam grip he uses now which focuses on max vert break was what he needed to throw all along. You see ge only got 1 inch extra horizontal movement of the seam shifted wake grip. He probably is a pronator at release, those extreme pronation guys dont do good with seam shifted sinkers
:(
If/when the Yankees win the WS and Weaver is dominant as he has been thus far, sign the man to a long term deal.
When i saw luke weaver pitch in august he sucked
Um they had no other choice? Who else was gonna close? Cmon now, stop making this organization out to be geniuses, they let Holmes blow 10+ saves before they pulled his name out of a hat
lesgo yankees!