Maximizing Performance With millions of dollars on the line, major league teams are finding innovative ways to protect their investment in pitchers. Increasingly, teams are sending their most-valued arms to Birmingham, Ala., to have their deliveries analyzed by the American Sports Medicine Institute, founded by Dr. James Andrews, the orthopedic surgeon. The institute’s biomechanics lab, run by Dr. Glenn Fleisig, measures and evaluates the components of a pitcher’s mechanics. These measurements are then compared with parameters established from the lab’s database of elite pitchers, selected from the more than 900 players it has† examined over the past 15 years.

Maybe they can explain why Pedro can't last a whole season without getting injured. (BTW: One game ain't enough to know, but if the O's find some pitching -- to compliment Raffy, Javy and Miguel -- they'll be able to compete in the Beastly East this year).