Full disclosure as I begin this thread. I am a Braves fan who grew up watching Glavine and Maddux as I was in high school and I was fortunate enough to pitch in and win a high school state championship as I modeled myself after Tom Glavine. I was lucky if I cracked 80 mph but I was crafty enough to be a fairly successful JuCo and Divison II pitcher. I am now a high school coach, although no longer as a baseball coach but I have coached it for a majority of my career.

I have posted this in a couple of threads today as I watched Julio a little closer mechanically than I have the rest of the year. I know what I have seen from a location and "stuff" perspective and they have both been off most starts. Poor fastball location and the slider hasn't been consistent at all. Sometimes it breaks, sometimes it just spins or backs up. The big question is why? Today I noticed something that seemed a bit different but I couldn't put my finger on it until I watched a highlight video on YouTube. Here is the link:

Oh the good times.

Let me tell you what my eyes see. As he posts up, his right foot is completely on the ground as he begins home. This is a good thing because all of his weight should be directed toward home at the same time. Julio has always been a drop and drive type pitcher, in my opinion. This is the main focus for me in the video. All spikes on the right cleat are in the ground together before he starts home.

Now to a video from the WBC. I focused on the video from the :20 mark to basically 2:00 mark.

Now when you see the right foot at the top when he posts up and begins to drive, the spikes on the heel begin to come out of the ground slightly. Slightly is the key word but it can make a big difference. If these spikes are coming up, where is his weight distribution? More toward the 3rd base side of the plate rather than that imaginary line that goes straight to the plate. From what I see, he redirects pretty well getting his stride foot close to where it's always been (it doesn't look as if he's throwing across his body), but it can still affect arm angle and release point a bit and can cause his mechanics to be slightly out of sequence.

I feel the biggest issue this change will make is fastball command. He has been getting really good run on his arm side fastball but he is really struggling with glove side command. It's tough to control it when your momentum begins so far away from your intended target. The other major problem with this mechanical change is breaking ball consistency. He's having to work so hard to get back on path that his release point can't be consistent. Release point is a bit late, the ball will break so far out that the hitter recognizes it's a ball. Get under it a bit and your a little early and all it does is spin or back up.

So that's it. If y'all get a chance to view the clips tell me if you see it. And if you do see it, do you agree that this could be an issue. I'd love to chat about it with someone that cares (the wife sure doesn't) .