Max Boldt
INF/RHP German National Team 2012 WBC Qualifier
1. Could you tell us your story on dropping down?
I've pretty much always been a positional player / hitter first and a reliever second. My fastball was never really overpowering but I had a decend changeup and decent control. However at some point when I was pitching as a really young player in the German Bundesliga I felt like I needed that little edge to be successfull against hitters who were much older and more experienced than me. So in 2007 I started practicing throwing sidearm/submarine to throw people off with the weird arm slot and to just get a little more movement on my pitches.
2. What are some of the advantages you had from your arm angle?
One of the advantages is that in Germany, hitters are just not used to seeing pitchers throw from that arm slot, since there are very few sidearm pitchers. Other than that I felt like I had good control over my fastball and the pitches were moving more than when I was throwing from over the top.
3. If you didn't drop down, do you think you would have had the same success?
Unfortunately I could only pitch sidearm for a little while because I eventually started to have back problems. However, I think that if I could have continued to drop down, I might have been able to do pretty well. But that's just me speculating.
4. What would you tell someone debating on changing their arm angle?
Just give it a try. If you're thinking about trying out a new arm slot, just go into the bullpen or play catch and see how it feels. If it feels right you can think about putting a little more effort into it. Like I said, though, I was starting to have back problems throwing sidearm because I probably didn't have enough flexibilty in my torso (flexibility isn't exactly one of my stronger sides), so make sure you don't hurt yourself.
5. Are there any mechanical tips that you'd give to someone throwing sidearm/submarine?
Not really, no. I just threw without really worrying about it. Like I said, I'm more of a position player than a pitcher..
6. What pitches did you throw?
Fastball, Changeup and a sweeping Slider.
7. How did you pitch to lefties/righties?
I pretty much stayed away from lefties because my fastball and changeup were moving away from them anyway. To righties I liked to throw Fastballs in on their hands and try to make them chase Sliders away.
8. Lastly what was your favorite part about pitching from down there?
I was actually happy to finally see my fastball move a little bit, since that was something that had never worked for me before. Also I felt pretty comfortable throwing sidearm because I was used to that from playing middle infield anyway.