While pitching deliveries typically offer something akin to a unique fingerprint, Kutter Crawford’s throwing motion deserves its own designation. What to call it?
“I call it this little chicken wing kind of thing,” Crawford said sheepishly.
Not good enough.
After all, the way that Crawford fires the ball generates both a confounding look for hitters and seemingly considerable power to his pitches. When he winds, he raises his bare hand in his glove to his face, then draws his right hand back just a few inches behind his ear before unleashing a mix of cutters, four-seamers, sweepers, and splitters from his compact motion.
Crawford looks like a boxer cocking his arm for a punch, an archer drawing the string of his bow. Thought of another way, the short arm action with the way his hand clamps the ball in some ways resembles the compact, clawing arms of a Jurassic World-style raptor.
