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Sportsgist.com gets to talk with Tampa Bay Ray pitcher Chris Mason and his pitching coach down in Durham, North Carolina during and after his Bullpen. Just in case you forgot, Chris is in Durham pitching for the Durham Bulls, the AAA affiliate of the Rays. Our objective was to hang out with Chris and learn exactly what a pitcher does both on the days he pitches and on the days that he does not pitch.  Working in the pen is where a pitcher fine tunes his mechanics before stepping out onto the mound for his next start.

BULLPEN SESSION: 

In this video, Chris is going through the one of the most important, yet underrated, aspects of pitcher: the Bullpen.  Pitching greats such as Greg Maddox and Roger Clemons worked out the kinks in their bullpen sessions.  Chris works on keeping his mechanics in order.  As his coach states, Chris has an unorthodox delivery which makes his timing all the more important.  If he loses his release point or his shoulder flies open, Chris will have a hard time getting out of trouble.  With that being said, Chris has decent stuff.  His fastball is consistently at 87-88 mph and tops out at 91 mph.  He has a good breaking ball and a decent change up.  His deceptive delivery makes it difficult for hitters to pick up the ball…one of the reason why Chris has been successful throughout his career.

Tags: awesome, balance, breaking ball, Bullpen, Chris Mason, consistency, cool ass highlights, curve ball, curveball, deception, delivery, Durham Bulls, fastball, how to, location, mechanics, Minor league baseball, MLB, Pitcher, practice, precision, Tampa Bay Rays, timing, trouble