Jose Campos - Mechanics Breakdown

Jose Vicente (Carnota) Campos

Bats: Right, Throws: Right Height: 6' 4", Weight: 195 lb.

Born: July 27, 1992 in La Guaira, VE (Age 19)

Minor League Service Time: 2 years

The Seattle Mariners traded Jose along with Michael Pineda last week to the New Yankees for Hector Noesi and Jesus Montero.  I’ve previously written scouting reports and mini mechanical breakdowns of Montero, Noesi, and Pineda. Now it’s time to take a good look at Campos…the only weak link in the chain.

Even though he is only 19 years old, I’ve spotted four major flaws in his delivery that will be extremely difficult to repair and/or overcome to become an innings eating starting pitcher for the New York Yankees in the future. These mechanical flaws will cause Jose to have major shoulder issues in the future. Due to this factor, I project Jose to be better suited to be a relief pitcher rather than a starter. The length of his career as a reliever will be dependent on the number of his game appearances in a season, the number of pitches he throws in an appearance, and the number of times he appears in relief in a series which will be very limited due to the extra recovery time he’ll need due to shoulder trauma.

A closer look at the mechanical problems:

He does not achieve maximum leg drive and begins his turn & arm action early.

His stride foot lands flat (sometimes on his heel) and fairly consistently open- negating his hip rotation.

His follow through is high -negating leverage especially on breaking pitches, but also affecting control accuracy and also, decreasing hip rotation even more.

His deceleration on his follow through-which is somewhat violent.

In short, I don’t see the easy motion some say he pitches with. Instead, I see someone who is throwing mostly with their arm, and will have a shortened career due to shoulder injuries from poor mechanics. I’ll let you be the judge on how this factors into the trade.