Corey Kluber and David Price: The Warmup Routines

Corey Kluber and David Price will on the mound later today when the Indians host the Red Sox in Game 2 of the ALDS. Before each faces his first batter, he will go through a warmup routine. The Cleveland righty and the Boston lefty will do so in a similar manner, but with a few notable differences.

Both will begin by playing catch in the outfield approximately 30 minutes before the start of the game. Price specified 35 minutes. Kluber didn’t give a specific time, but he’s no less structured. He told me that everything is mapped out, including when he begins long-tossing on the field. His routine on the road begins five minutes earlier, as he won’t be pitching in the top half of the first inning.

Kluber throws “30 to 35 pitches” once he gets on the bullpen mound. Price throws “40 to 45 pitches,” which he said is “probably more than most guys.” As you’d expect, each begins at a lower intensity — “about 70% effort for the first 10-15” for Price — before ramping up. Fastball command is the primary goal at the beginning of the session.

Neither is totally inflexible with regard to how many of each pitch he throws.

“I have a routine, but it’s not set in stone,” said Kluber. “It’s more of a guideline. It doesn’t have to be this many fastballs, this many breaking balls, or this and that. If I need to get more comfortable with a certain pitch, I have no problem doing that. Say I want to throw three changeups and two of them are bad. I’ll throw one or two more to get a better feel, both mentally and of the pitch itself.”

Price approaches it much the same way.

“It’s not so much about the number of pitches I throw,” explained Price. ‘It’s more about how it’s going. I definitely want to have good command of my fastball. If I’m not hitting a spot — say down and away to a righty — I’ll stay there until I get the feeling down for that side of the plate.”

Game plans are a minor concern, at best. Kluber told me he never emphasizes a pitch based on reports, as he wants to have good feel with all of them. He added that once the game starts, “Some pitches may be working better in certain innings, and others won’t, so the game plan going in may turn into something completely opposite.”

Both alternate offerings. It’s not all fastballs, followed by all breaking pitches, followed by all changeups. Price described it as “mixing in everything around the fastball.” His sequences might be “two four-seams in, two four-seams away, curveball, two-seam away to a righty, then my changeup off of that. I’ll throw my cutter. The last one will always be a four-seam, either in or away.”

Price does more than alternate pitches. He also goes back-and-forth from the windup to the stretch — not pitch-to-pitch, but multiple times throughout the session. Kluber doesn’t do that. He starts out of the windup and then goes to the stretch, throwing an equal amount of pitches from each. As the bullpen gate prepares to swing open, he then goes back to the windup for his final pitch.

In terms of pitch selection, Kluber’s first-inning routine from the game mound is similar mirrors his work in the bullpen. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be three of this, or three of that. I just want to try to make sure that I have a good feel for my pitches in those last couple of throws.”

Price will be pitching on the road this afternoon, which means he’ll have extra time as he waits out the top of the first. He’ll spend it keeping his body and arm loose, either in the clubhouse of the tunnel. One way he’ll do so is by throwing a weighted ball, which he does before each inning. It’s part of his routine.





David Laurila grew up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and now writes about baseball from his home in Cambridge, Mass. He authored the Prospectus Q&A series at Baseball Prospectus from December 2006-May 2011 before being claimed off waivers by FanGraphs. He can be followed on Twitter @DavidLaurilaQA.

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bsgoldberg
7 years ago

No mention of band or mobility work prior to throwing? No prep from therapists/trainers?