Video scouting first look

Trip Somers • February 24, 2009 • Scouting

Here's a first look at some scouting video shot over the weekend. Shown here is a pitch thrown in the 3rd inning of Game 1 of Saturday's double header between UT Dallas and Texas Lutheran University. UT Dallas came back from being down 13-3 to win the game 14-13 with an 11-run 5th inning.

The pitcher in this video is UT Dallas starting pitcher Jonathan Reeder, a left-handed junior transfer from Eastfield College. UT Dallas is a 4-year Division III school, and Eastfield is a Division III junior college. Back in the winter of 2007-2008, I worked with Reeder on his delivery for a few bullpens - not enough time to officially consider him a student of mine, though.

You can clearly see his pronation, and for this pitch at least, his arm doesn't fly across his body during the follow through. Though he shows some late forearm turnover, the rest of his arm action is very healthy. I also think his back side could add a bit more energy and help drive his throwing shoulder with more power.

Since recording this video, I have found a couple of tweaks that will improve future video quality including a YouTube optimizer setting. The video here was recorded at 420 frames per second, so the motion detail is outstanding.

They won't be the sharpest videos you've seen, but they should get the job done.