The other day I was watching video on YouTube of Greg Maddux warming up and then switched to Strasburg; S.S. brings his elbow up a little higher when he's starting the toss, and of course he throws the ball way harder than Maddux does, but for some reason I had this eerie feeling of deja vu. Any grounds for this or was I just making it up?
Hmmm, to certain extent sure. I think Maddux and Strasburg have some similarities, mainly in that they both keep the ball 'hidden' until the perfect moment in their motion when they basically catapult the ball to the catcher's mitt. The motion at that point is so fluid, that it becomes very difficult for the batter to even locate the ball. This is a good similarity. The difference is that Maddux seems to be a little further ahead in his arm motion than Strasburg once their momentums are shifting forward. It's hard to tell at this point, as Maddux is a long-time veteran with established mechanics and Strasburg is a junior in college that has had one big season. Who knows who is going to mess around with his stuff over the next decade. In the end, they probably will end up being two completely different pitchers.
