Amos Otis

50 Biggest Con Artists in Baseball History

By

Mark Miller

(Featured Columnist) on January 18, 2012

 http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1025709-50-biggest-con-artists-in-baseball-history/page/34

Five-time All-Star Amos Otis may have used illegal bats for the majority of his career, but at least he was willing to admit it:

I had enough cork and superballs in there to blow away anything. ... I had a very close friend who made the bats for me. He'd drill a hole down the barrel and stuff some superballs and cork in it. Then he put some sawdust back into the hole, sandpapered it down and added a little pine tar over the top of it. The bat looked brand new.

Jose Campos’ Mechanics Breakdown

Jose Vicente (Carnota) Campos

Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 4", Weight: 195 lb.
Born: July 27, 1992 in La Guaira, VE (Age 19)
Minor League Service Time: 2 years

The Seattle Mariners traded Jose along with Michael Pineda last week to the New Yankees for Hector Noesi and Jesus Montero.  I’ve previously written scouting reports and mini mechanical breakdowns of Montero, Noesi, and Pineda. Now it’s time to take a good look at Campos…the only weak link in the chain.

Even though he is only 19 years old, I’ve spotted four major flaws in his delivery that will be extremely difficult to repair and/or overcome to become an innings eating starting pitcher for the New York Yankees in the future. These mechanical flaws will cause Jose to have major shoulder issues.

Due to this factor, I project Jose to be better suited to be a relief pitcher rather than a starter. The length of his career as a reliever will be dependent on the number of his game appearances in a season, the number of pitches he throws in an appearance, and the number of times he appears in relief in a series which will be very limited due to the extra recovery time he’ll need due to shoulder trauma.

A closer look at the mechanical problems…

He does not achieve maximum leg drive and begins his turn & arm action early.

His stride foot lands flat (sometimes on his heel) and fairly consistently open- negating his hip rotation.

His follow through is high -negating leverage especially on breaking pitches, but also affecting control accuracy and also, decreasing hip rotation even more.

His deceleration on his follow through-which is somewhat violent.

In short, I don’t see the easy motion some say he pitches with. Instead, I see someone who is throwing mostly with their arm, and will have a shortened career due to shoulder injuries from poor mechanics. I’ll let you be the judge on how this factors into the trade.
   http://nyyuniverse.com/mechanics-breakdown/jose-campos-mechanics-breakdown/#disqus_thread 

NY YANKEES Add Dominating Right Hander Michael Pineda

• Height: 6-7
• Weight: 260
• Bats: R
• Throws: R
• Born: Jan 18, 1989 - Yaguate, Dominican Republic
• College: None
• Draft: None

Signed as a 16 year old out of the Dominican Republic by the Seattle Mariners, Michael has already developed into an All Star caliber pitcher. In last year's All Star game he had American League fans and team mates drooling, as he had over powered and dominated the National League hitters he faced in a much too short of an appearance. The big right hander has just as big of a fastball (mid to upper 90’s with plenty of movement), an improving slider and change up.

His development has smoothed out some of the violent movements that he had in his delivery when he was younger. His mechanics now allow him to have more durability as a starting pitcher and is projected to be able to eat more innings this season. I’ve been impressed with Pineda’s ability to maximize his leg drive in his delivery. This means his back leg is fully extended before he turns and rotates to throw. Using his legs in his delivery in this manner will allow him to be pumping out power pitches deep into his outings. As far as his “fall away” follow through is concerned, it resembles a cross between C.C. Sabathia and Bob Gibson. He doesn’t end up in the best fielding position. Also, I used those two pitchers on purpose because Michael has that kind of career potential. You just gotta hope he never gets nailed by a line drive back through the middle.  .  

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MLB Starting Pitchers

FanFeedr: New York Yankees News & Information

New York Yankees News and Notes

www.fanfeedr.com

If you have a few minutes, take the time to read Alex Geshwand's overview of the Yankees (in)ability to develop quality starting pitchers during Brian Cashman's tenure. His main takeaway: (I)t's worth noting how little success the organization has had developing starting pitchers during Brian Cashm…

· · FanFeed · 14 minutes ago via FanFeedr

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    Del Pittman FWIW, I don't see any organization developing mechanically sound, quality starting pitchers. I can name only a handful from both leagues with flawless deliveries. There may be more quality starters, but if their mechanics aren't correct, they're subject to eventual breakdown. This an area I'd like to see addressed league-wide.