The Milwaukee Brewers traded for a tall and lengthy 6’8″ southpaw this off-season. Bryan Hudson, formerly with the Los Angeles Dodgers, was acquired in exchange for another lefty Justin Chambers. In less than two months with the Crew he is already reaping the benefits of their pitching lab.
Milwaukee Brewers pitching lab has been going to work with Bryan Hudson.
Per Matthew Trueblood at Brewer Fanatic the Brewers have been working on mechanics with Bryan Hudson and he has seen an increase in one particular pitching metric.
“We are working on some front-side stuff, keeping it close to my body. I tend to kind of bring my front side out and swing out away from my arm. So we’re working on that right now, and it’s helped with my extension. I think it’s also cleaned up my extension a little bit, and will help me be a little more consistent.”
Bryan Hudson was already near the top of the league in extension.
Last year Hudson averaged 7.3 feet of extension (how much closer a pitcher’s release point is to home plate). Baseball savant ranked him in the 98th percentile. Since working with the Brewers Hudson indicated that he is up to 7.8 feet at times. Going off of last years numbers that would give him the best extension in baseball.
“After working on some of this stuff, the last few times I’ve thrown, I’m up to 7.8, 7.6 [feet]. So I’m getting a little bit further out there, and I think that helps me be a little bit more deceptive, so that also helps.”
Why is this important?
A baseball pitchers extension is correlated with perceived velocity. Taking Hudson for example, last year his fastball averaged 92 MPH and it had a perceived velocity just a tick under 94 MPH. If he throws at the same speed in 2024, but with the increased extension numbers from above, his fastball will be perceived as traveling even faster than last years.
Follow me on Twitter @tylerkoerth. Follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great sports content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here!. We cover the Milwaukee Brewers, Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers, and Wisconsin High School Sports. Additionally we provide the latest news coverage on the NFL, MLB, and NBA.