原文網址:http://0rz.tw/YbAP2

作者:Kyle Boddy

這篇是之前hardballtime一篇談論關於Danny Hultzen的文章,裡面用投球姿勢及各種較為數據的方式分析了Hultzen的投球動作,之前花了一點時間翻譯,就貼上來讓大家參考,如果有什麼錯誤的地方再麻煩各位指正!

The Seattle Mariners shocked the baseball blogosphere when they chose Danny Hultzen over Anthony Rendon in the free agent draft this week. In subsequent radio interviews in the Seattle area, Jack Zduriencik said the team's had eyes on Hultzen for years, and that they put top scout Tom McNamara on Hultzen all year at the University of Virginia. Hultzen's stats are no joke, but then again, neither are third pick Trevor Bauer's—my preferred pitcherin the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft. (203 strikeouts in 136 innings pitched? I can't wait to see Bauer in the big show.)

在本週的選秀會中,西雅圖水手出乎意料地跳過Anthony Rendon而選擇Danny Hultzen,這個舉動震驚了棒球界。隨後在接受西雅圖當地的廣播訪問時,Jack Zduriencik表示水手注意Hultzen已經有幾年的時間,在過去的一整年,水手的球探長Tom McNamara都待在University of Virginia觀察他。Hultzen在今年的成績並非虛假,但是第三籤的Trevor Bauer--這位2011年MLB選秀會中我最喜愛的投手--的成績也是貨真價實(136局中投出203K?我等不及看他登上大聯盟的表現了)

Ahem. This article is about Danny Hultzen and not my personal man-crush on Trevor Bauer, so let's get back to it.

阿樂,這篇文章是討論Danny Hultzen,而不是來敘述我對Trevor Bauer的欣賞跟崇拜,所以讓我們拉回主題吧!

Scouting Danny Hultzen - Using A Scientific Approach

There are many, many articles out there talking about Hultzen's 90-94 mph fastball, passable slider, plus-rated changeup, and great character, so I'm not going to talk about these nebulous grades. I'll leave the 20-80 scouting scale to those who actually hold scouting jobs. Nor am I going to talk about his arm action, ball release, and follow-through phases based on my personal preferences. Rather, we will use crude planar two-dimensional biomechanical analysis techniques to analyze Hultzen's delivery, using what video we can find on the Internet. The video I'll use is this series of clips shot by scoutingthesally.com, available on YouTube:

在這個網站的其他地方,已經有許多的文章在討論Hultzen的武器群:90-94 mph的速球、還算堪用的slider、高人一等的changeup以及他優秀的特點。所以我不會針對這些模糊不清的成績定義去討論Hultzen,那些20-80的球探評量就留給球探工作的人去做。我也不會根據我個人的偏好去討論他的揮臂動作、放球點以及那些接下來的種種分析。我們會使用我們在網路上所找到的關於Hultzen的投球影片,擷取簡陋的二維平面照片,並應用一些力學分析技術,針對Hultzen的投球進行分析。所使用的影片來自scoutingthesally.com,在youtube上可以找到:

A FEW WORDS OF CAUTION: This video, like many others, is shot from the side at a slight angle. Ideally, we'd have a video that is shot to present the pitcher perfectly from the side, in line with third base, first base, and the pitching rubber. Additionally, the video quality here is not great, and is shot at 25-30 fps. For reasonably accurate planar static kinematic values, we need a 90-degree shot, with 200+ frames per second video quality, and a stable camera. We'll do what we can, with this note that parallax error and a low sampling rate will both play significant roles in our analysis. This a perfect reason why MLB teams should have a detailed video library of all the pitchers and hitters they are interested in—shot with a checklist of quality markers for analysis, using consumer-grade high-speed cameras.

這些影片跟許多網路上所能找到的影片一樣,是從選手旁邊且由上往下略微傾斜的角度所拍攝。一般來說,如果要清楚錄製投手的投球動作影像,最理想的角度是從投手版為起點,平行向外延伸至三壘及一壘,在這兩條平行線的角度對投手拍攝最佳。另外,我所使用的影片品質也不夠好,一秒所拍攝的圖像為25-30幅;就運動學上來說,若要拍攝真正具有討論價值及正確的影像,我們需要從九十度的角度、並使用每秒可拍攝超過兩百張分格照片的高速攝影機,所拍攝的照片品質才夠標準。在照片的角度視差及較低的拍攝速率兩大不足下,我們盡我們所能針對Hultzen的投球動作進行清楚且明確的分析。

對大聯盟球隊來說,這是一個絕佳的理由去針對自己感興趣的投手及打者建立一個完整且精確的影像資料庫,因為拿來分析用的照片必須使用高水準的高速攝影機擷取,才能針對選手動作進行有價值的研究分析。

The metrics with which we'll grade Danny Hultzen can all be found in various baseball research papers and represent elite (MLB) pitchers who have been biomechanically analyzed by various researchers and groups, and who have generally been injury-free. No guarantees can be made, as the participants in studies are subject to health privacy laws, and various selection biases may have been introduced. However, these metrics are all based on scientific research and are not invented by someone with personal bias. They are also not qualitative—there will be no measurement of a "fast arm action," a definition that might mean many different things to many different people.

我們拿來評量Danny Hultzen的各項衡量標準,可以在各式各樣的棒球研究報告找到,這些標準能呈現出那些職業生涯中沒有傷病困擾的頂尖大聯盟投手,歷年來被各式各樣研究人員及團體所進行的種種動作及力學分析數據。沒有人保證這樣做就一定不會出狀況,而且許多的選定偏差也會隨之出現。然而,這些評量標準都是基於科學研究所產生,並非由特定某人所獨創,因此不具有個人偏見。這些評量標準也並非定量--就像對「fast arm action」沒有一個明確的衡量標準,因為這類的定義會因為不同人而有不同的標準。

: -Maximum Knee Height (absolute and relative to height)
: -Degrees of Shoulder Abduction at Foot Contact
: -Degrees of Lead Knee Angle at Foot Contact
: -Stride Length at Foot Contact (absolute and relative to height)
: -Degrees of Maximum External Rotation (MER)
: -Degrees of Lead Hip Flexion at Ball Release

(衡量標準,下面一一翻出)

: Maximum Knee Height

最大膝高(投手立足腿之腳底至抬起腿的膝蓋高度)

(測量數據誤差未知)

Nolan Ryan once said that the higher he lifted his glove leg, the harder he could throw. While this statement might not have a lot of absolute merit to contributing to fastball velocity, research does back up the concept of a fairly large maximum knee height being prevalent amongst the top tier of baseball pitchers.

Nolan Ryan曾經說過當他將左腿舉得越高,他將的球速就會丟得越快(glove leg應該是投手投球時抬起的那條腿,因為右投是左手戴手套舉左腿、左投是右手戴手套舉右腿)。然而這樣的陳述在研究人員根據研究結果歸納出下面這個說法後,可能沒有太多參考價值:研究數據指出大聯盟頂尖層級的投手,在抬腿高度這部分都具有相當的水平。

(這一段翻的不好,但大意應該是這樣)

Danny Hultzen's maximum lead knee height is approximately 55.25 inches, good for 73.6 percent of his standing height of 75 inches (error unknown). Most research indicates that the best pitchers have a maximum knee height between 60-70 percent of their standing height.

Danny Hultzen的最大抬腿高度約為55.25英吋,達到他身高的73.6%(身高75吋),多數的研究指出大聯盟優秀投手的最大抬腿高度為身高的60%~70%。

Stride Foot Contact Metrics At foot contact, there's a lot of stuff going on that we're measuring. Hultzen's...

跨步定量數據

在跨步這個部分,我們測量了許多部分,Hultzen的數據如下:

Shoulder Abduction (think: height of elbow) is about 93 degrees (error unknown). Research suggests elite pitchers are generally between 80-100 degrees at this phase of the delivery.

肩膀角度(投球肩膀與身體所形成的角度)約為93度,研究人員指出大聯盟優秀投手在揮臂這個動作跟身體形成的角度介於80-100度之間。

Lead Knee Angle is about 139 degrees (error unknown). Research suggests elite pitchers are generally between 125-140 degrees at this phase of the delivery.

前腿角度(膝蓋彎曲角度)約為139度,研究人員指出大聯盟優秀投手在前腿跨步這動作介於125-140度之間。

Stride Length is about 42.88 inches or 57 percent of his standing height. (error unknown). Research suggests elite pitchers generally stride 75-90 percent of their standing height.

跨步距離約為42.88英吋,達到他身高的57%,研究人員指出大聯盟優秀投手在這個動作通常達到他們身高的75%~90%之間。

Maximum External Rotation (MER)

最大肩關節外轉角度(看圖片應該是這樣翻)

Maximum External Rotation (MER) is actually a pretty big misnomer; it describes the angle at which the forearm "lays back" during the pitching delivery. This is due to a rapid turn of the shoulders as the inertial mass of the baseball pushes the hand and forearm back. The problem with the term is that "shoulder external rotation" describes the humerus rotating backwards, while in reality scapular tilt is providing a significant amount of the "external rotation" during this phase. It is, therefore, multiple components being measured as a single thing. Scapular tilt is hard to measure without markers on the scapula and a bridge connecting them, and so researchers have just grouped these variables together; it's stuck ever since. Evidence suggests that scapular tilt varies between overhead throwing athletes, so comparing MER between athletes may introduce a gross error based on anatomical and congenital differences between the two.

最大肩關節外轉角度(MER)實際上是個非常大的誤稱:這是指投手投球時,戴手套的手迴轉至腋下這個動作時,肩膀向下傾斜所形成的角度。這個角度是由於投手在投球時,前臂迴轉至腋下的慣性動作帶動肩膀快速旋轉所形成。在這個連環動作造成了一個問題稱為「肩膀外轉角度」:投手投球時,肱骨會向後旋轉,在這個投球的階段中,肩胛(骨)會傾斜出一個角度,這個角度稱為外轉角度。於是在這個投球動作的過程中,許多部分被取出被測量成一個單一數據。肩胛骨的傾斜角度如果沒有針對投球動作去畫線測量,很難被計算出來,因此研究人員便把這許多變量集合在一起,從此便集合在一起探討。數據顯示肩胛(骨)的傾斜角度會隨著投球手臂舉過頭頂的高度而變化。由於投手之間身體結構及天生素質的差異性,比較不同投手之間的MER,或許會產生不同的總體誤差。

But enough naysaying and biomechanical nerd-jargon. Hultzen's MER is about 197 degrees (error unknown) based on the best video frame I could find that showed the maximum "layback" possible. Research suggests that elite pitchers tend to range from 170-190 degrees of "MER" throughout the delivery.

先不提這堆生物醫學專有名詞了。(這句是我整篇文章唯一一整句看不太懂整講什麼的Orz)Hultzen的 MER達到197度,這是根據我所蒐集到最清楚的照片,測量出可能的最大MER。研究人員指出大聯盟優秀投手在這個動作所形成的角度介於170-190度之間。

A few more words on MER: How MER is achieved, and is not controlled in these studies. The rate at which the forearm enters "maximum external rotation" (which I will now call "maximum forearm layback," or MFL) is vitally important when trying to solve for kinetic derivations like joint torque, which is ultimately responsible for the total and peak stressors on the body's structures. MFL itself tells us just one thing out of many factors that make up the important parts of the just that phase of the delivery—rate of MFL (rMFL) is very important as well, and this cannot be determined using standard-definition 30 frames per second video.

(上面那一段是在討論一些定義跟動作的專門英文,我就跳過不翻了,要看懂應該不難)

Hip Flexion

軀體與前跨腿的角度(字面上翻髖部彎曲,不過文章裡不是測量這部分)

At ball release, Hultzen's lead hip flexion is about 100 degrees (error unknown). Research suggests that elite pitchers tend to be between 92-115 degrees of hip flexion at ball release.

投出球後,Hultzen軀體與前跨腿的角度為100度。研究人員指出大聯盟優秀投手在投球後這個動作所形成的角度介於92-115度之間。

Wrapping it Up
By all the basic research standards that we chose (except for stride length), Danny Hultzen has the biomechanical markers of an elite pitcher. A coach might suggest that Hultzen increase his stride length to increase his fastball velocity, but no research has correlated these two specific variables, regardless of what popular Internet pitching coaches will tell you.

根據所有我們所選擇的身體力學研究指標,除了跨步幅度不夠以外,Danny Hultzen擁有成為一個大聯盟頂尖投手的條件。教練可能會建議Hultzen增加他的跨步幅度以增加他的速球速度,但是除了那些網路上自認為是投教的鄉民外,沒有研究顯示跨步幅度與球速之間的關聯性為正相關。

This article should help shine on a light on what is necessary to maintain even a basic video library for crude biomechanical analysis techniques, and illustrate the limitations of planar biomechanical analysis of static kinematic variables. A three-dimensional approach using synchronized high-speed cameras is a far better tool to evaluate the kinematics and kinetics of baseball pitchers, to assess red flags in a pitcher's delivery, to help unlock fastball velocity and increase durability. As I said in my first article for The Hardball Times, Driveline Baseball is working hard at developing a low-cost mobile solution that could easily be implemented in a team's stadium like PITCHf/x.

(上面這段在講一些用高速攝影機拍攝投手投球影片,以及分析投球姿勢的部分,還有提到Driveline Baseball這個網站,我就跳過不翻了)

我頗為好奇的是: Danny Hultzen的投球動作,是經過自己身體習慣+教練調效達到這樣的姿勢,還是教練真的是按照這樣的統計數據去修正的?如果是前者,或許我們真的選到了一塊璞玉;如果是後者,我會建議JZ趕快開份合約給 Hultzen的大學教練....XDrz

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