Lake Buena Vista, Fla. – Detroit Tigers pitching coach Chris Bosio stands behind pitcher Blaine Hardy during a bullpen session harping on balance point. Solid back foot, firmer on the landing leg, finish in a better defensive position. Over and over, balance, balance, balance.
You’d think that would be a rather small, overly fundamental thing to be obsessing about to a veteran big-league pitcher. But guess what?
“I started to throw my slider hard, sharp and exactly where I wanted it to go,” said Hardy, who considers the slider his third-best pitch. “My curve ball was just as sharp.