TAIJUAN AND CARSON

A tale of two Blue Jays

Question. 

How does a 16-year-old nudge the radar to 87 when a giant major leaguer in the prime of his career can scrounge only four more clicks on the gun?

Answer.

The MLB guy is a Totem Pole Pitcher.

Now I’m pretty sure that’s going to take some explaining.  First let’s take a look at the Totem Pole.

His name is Taijuan Walker and he’s a bona fide Toronto Blue Jays stud.  Age 28.  Height 6-4.  Weight 235.  Built like an NFL linebacker.  And he sits on 91-92.

Well, actually he stands.  That’s the way Taijuan cuts it loose.  Sort of.  Standing up.  Stiff.  Pointing at the light towers.  At attention.  Saluting the stars.  Taijuan thinks follow through is for real estate agents.

That’s it, Taijuan, stand up and be counted

I tell my pitchers to throw through the catcher.  Not to the catcher.  Commit.  Drive.  Bury your shoulder to the plate.  That adds three or four mph to your velocity.  We’ll talk more about that later.

Walker is just the opposite.  He commits as little as possible, as if he’s saving it for marriage.

If you ever watch him on the hill take a look at his back foot as he finishes.  It seldom gets more than two feet off the clay.   That’s coitus interruptus for a pitching delivery.  It’s a drag racer just tapping the accelerator.  A rocket sputtering.  A stand-up telling a joke with no punch line.  A sprinter stopping after 80 meters. 

Walker will never reach his potential until he decides to throw through the catcher.

Now the 16-year old.

His name is Carson Latimer and he fires aspirin tablets for the North Delta Blue Jays in Vancouver.  The same Jays who spawned MLB pistols Justin Morneau, Jeff Francis and James Paxton, which is like a Harvard grad class producing three Supreme Court Justices. 

I was Carson’s pitching coach a year ago when he toed the rubber for Cam Frick’s Delta Tigers, the best bantam team north of the 49th Parallel. 

Carson was as lights out as a Black Hole, so good he etched a perfect game as effortlessly as walking his dog.  But he wasn’t alone.  Ryan Heppner, one of the most gifted athletes I’ve ever coached, matched him, perfect with 16 K’s to boot.

That power staff included lefthander Hayden Cuthbertson, who threw a minefield of grenades, flamethrower Noah Cassie, and Everett Swaim, a classic example of rhythm and tempo.  Toss in a superb catcher, Kenny Scott, and you had The Big Blue Tiger Machine.

And this is how you throw the ball through the catcher

Latimer had two glitches.  His stride was 12 inches or more against his body, which is lethal, and his delivery was so big it was like trying to tame a wild Brahma bull in heat. 

I had him slide step straight down the hill until his stride locked in and then we sliced his knee raise almost in half for better balance and more explosive energy down the hill.  To his immense credit he made the corrections in less than a week.

Voila!  Goodbye BB’s.  Hello K’s.

And now the kid is shooting 86 and 87 on his way to the magic number 90, which attracts scouts like 10-year-olds to a skateboard park.  He has the athleticism, the arm, the size, the work ethic, the intelligence and the commitment.  Six for six.

No, make that seven for seven.  Because Carson throws through the catcher.

He should send a memo to Taijuan Walker.  

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Take a look at this pic of Carson. How many good things do you see? Let me count the ways.

1. He’s getting down the hill as fast as a blink. No hanging over the rubber at the mythical balance point.
2. Front side closed, the key to hip/shoulder separation.
3. Perfect coil of the front hip, storing energy for an explosion when his stride leg plants.
4. Eyes focused on the target.
5. Beautiful balance throughout his delivery.
6. Disciplined knee raise.
7. Leading with his hip and his heel.
8. Absolute control of his body

And that’s why this 16-year-old pro prospect guns 87.