So, what can Junk do this season? Junk has something he wants to investigate.
Toward the end of last season, a FanGraphs writer asked him about the variation in his arm angle when he was released—a variation he didn’t know at the time. He refused to answer this question, not to be rude or difficult, because he did not know that it was something for him. He immediately became curious.
“I felt different going back to 96, 97 or whatever. “I feel like I’m throwing, you know, the side arm… It was like I was falling.”
While he could shoot a 96 mph four-seamer on occasion, he sat 92-93 mph for the majority of his outings. He was curious to know if he could sail near his top speed. It was important to find another level.
After all, consider the average fastball velocity for a right-handed starter is 95.1 mph this season. In fact, the ratio is greater than that of the right hand release (94.9). If a pitcher is below that velocity benchmark, he is already fighting an uphill battle. Junk’s fastball average was 93.6 mph last season.
But there was reason to believe that he was leaving the flesh on the bone.
Pitchers’ velocity range has decreased over the course of the track—from a 7.37-mph gap between each year’s top and bottom fastball speeds in 2008 to a record-low 4.92-mph range last year. Junk’s distance was above last year’s average (6.2 mph).
When he returned to Seattle after the season, he asked Driveline analysts to investigate. Indeed, they found that he has more variability than the average pitcher in terms of his angle of release. It touched his stuff, creating a wide range of speed and movement.
If those numbers confirm the issue, and after finishing his usual end-of-season motion capture and strength testing, Junk wanted to immediately focus on reducing the variance. Did he have access to his best assets?
What he found in the workshop was that his arm went down when he turned quickly and went down the mound in a certain way.
Before, I felt like I was going to get stuck, like ‘OK, lift a leg, and I’m going to fall,'” Junk said of his movement program. I always notice my speed drop whenever I work hard, and I go slower on a hill. Now, it’s like lifting a leg, and I go down a hill. It’s like ‘How fast can you go?’… Speed is a big indicator for me.”
The faster he accelerates, the lower his angle of attack. His performance and rebounding ability improved.
In order to hardwire the new movement, which is quickly thrown into his muscle memory, there was a package of Driveline’s drill director for casting Connor White.
There was a pivot pick—but not just any pivot pick—that was different when Junk focused on using his body rotation to pull the arm into its proper position. The focus was on the athlete’s movement such as making a throw from the shortstop position.
Change isn’t built around any new magic bullet or workout; it was driven by a different mix and intensity.
“Ideally, you increase efficiency, and that’s what we work on with the guys when we’re in the workshop,” White said. “We can develop motion to raise the roof and the floor.”
Garbage also threw game-like bulls with a Target Tracker that measured his command.
