Brandon McCarthy watch - OUT TORN UCL

Quake Griffin · Post #1 » by **Quake Griffin** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 1:30 am

Anybody notice Brandon McCarthy's velo has been up since last year?

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?pl ... position=P
very odd if you ask me.

Ranma · Post #2 » by **Ranma** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 2:13 am

Eric Stephen, TrueBlueLA.com (12/16/14)

McCarthy lost 13 pounds after the seizure, and said he felt tired at the end of the year, which saw him pitch 135 innings and make 22 starts, right around his average for the previous three years. He was fed up and decided to make a change, so he talked to a neighbor in Dallas who ran a gym.

"I finally got to a point of realizing I needed to get bigger and stronger," McCarthy recalled. "I found a trainer who agreed. He said, 'Look at you, you have the upper body of a teenage boy. Let's try to get you bigger and stronger.'

The 6'7 skinny pitcher was too skinny.

""I don't think I was ever strong enough upper body wise. I don't think I was strong enough in the back or shoulder," McCarthy said. "I'm very tall and skinny and one of the general maxims of baseball is that you don't lift upper body as a pitcher and you don't do it the way I needed to."

McCarthy knew things were going to be different when in May he didn't feel any pain or discomfort in his shoulder. There would be no early disabled list trip this season, or one at all.

"I'm dealing with something different now, and I might be in the place I've wanted to be for so long," he recalled thinking at the time.

Not only did McCarthy change his offseason workout; he altered his routine throughout the season as well.

He used to throw every day in between starts, but in 2014 he wouldn't pick up a baseball for two days after his start, instead lifting weights to maintain upper body strength throughout the year.

"It was a combo of rest and heavy lifting," McCarthy said. "It worked really well last year. I felt fresh all the way through."

Dodgers Betting Brandon McCarthy Can Shoulder the Load

Neddy · Post #3 » by **Neddy** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 2:38 am

Quake Griffin wrote:Anybody notice Brandon McCarthy's velo has been up since last year?

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?pl ... position=P
very odd if you ask me.

either his sinker seem to have lost its sink but gotten faster, or he is throwing a ton of four seamers and i don't like it. he is a ground ball pitcher who looks like he wishes to be Greinke's replacement/equal and going for strikeouts all the time now. I don't necessarily think he is juicing or anything like that. ranma's post sounds about right to me.

Quake Griffin · Post #4 » by **Quake Griffin** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 10:19 pm

http://www.dodgersnation.com/dodgers-ne ... 2015/04/21

People are taking notice of it.
Wonder if rumors will start picking up.

I saw your post Ranma. I know McCarthy began an upper body routine. I heard him mention it in reference to how much he was getting hurt early in his career. Never thought an upper body routine would put MPH on a fastball though.

Quake Griffin · Post #5 » by **Quake Griffin** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 11:30 pm

Brandon McCarthy with a torn UCL.

year one and, more than likely, year 2 of 4/48 are down the drain.
whatever. We have money. You have to shoot your shot when you got it.

Time for Wieland?

Neddy · Post #6 » by **Neddy** » Tue Apr 28, 2015 2:48 am

Quake Griffin wrote:Brandon McCarthy with a torn UCL.

year one and, more than likely, year 2 of 4/48 are down the drain.
whatever. We have money. You have to shoot your shot when you got it.

Time for Wieland?

well this is gonna trigger that 5th year team option at least. if he comes back and pitches like he was worth the contract, he have him in 2019 for 5 or 6 million.