Scott,

     I agree with Brent that Chapman has a simpler lift and load than Trevor Bauer does.  But, it doesn't really matter what I think.  I try to get pitchers to take ownership of their own mechanics.  The more Brad thinks about and makes decisions about his delivery, the more he will learn and the more engaged he'll be in the process.  Talk with him about what he's trying to accomplish and let him make decisions with your guidance about how to do it.  I call it monkey see – monkey do when all a pitcher does is what his coach tells him to do.  I want him to know why and try to figure out how.

     One of the best ways I know to keep your front foot closed is to lead with your hip as long as possible.  You can't open your foot as long as it's behind your hip.  Once your front foot breaks past the lead hip, one way to keep it closed is to cock your knee in and drive the bottom of your shoe at the target – the way Mr. Chapman does.  In fact, Chapman keeps his foot closed longer than Bauer does.  But, the point is to keep it closed – the best way to do it is up to the pitcher to find.  Sometimes the best way to keep it closed is to just… keep it closed.   

     In the week 16 video, Brad doesn't really start moving forward until after his foot reaches maximum lift – then he leads with his hip and starts moving out.  I think if he slows his leg lift and focuses on moving out with his hip while it's going up, his forward movement will tuck his lift leg back – he'll be farther down the hill – and he can figure out a way to keep his leg from running away from the rest of his body.  There are a lot of ways to accomplish that and he can find one that's comfortable for him.

     As to the Trevor Bauer slo-mo clip – I like his mechanics much better in the clip Brent uses (I use it a lot since I first saw it on Top Velocity) than in the one from his Bauer Outage You Tube channel.  His Force Vector especially is much better on the minor league bullpen clip.  It just shows that a pitcher can never stop working on his mechanics – even a millionaire first round draft pick. 

I did not work with Dylan Bundy.  Dylan and Archie Bradley pitched for rival high schools before becoming millionaires last summer.  We were very happy to see them graduate and wish them well.  Like a lot of pitchers, Dylan's dad, Denver was very influential in his development.  He also has a brother, Bobby in the Orioles organization.