I was watching the yankees and Rays the other night.  Since stumbling upon the site and really learning where vel. is generated I've been constantly pausing and slo-moing pitchers to check their mechanics.  I was particularly struck by the immense and precise separation by Joba.  Like the guy has a huge lower half and that works to his advantage but if you take a look at his stuff in slow mo you can see much more going on. His plant foot is pointed directly at the catcher and his hips exactly squared up as well.  All the while he has his shoulders perfectly closed off generating some serious core elastic.  Watching him rip off 95-96 effortlessly was a thing of beauty.

That is so true.  I watched Joba again 2 nights ago and although his separation was okay he looked as though his upper half was a little quick, which seemed to be taking something away from his heat. The ball wasn't launching out of his hand, it seemed a little more flat.  So it's more than just separation that is going to do it.  It seems like proper timing of each sequence is as, if not more, important than the separation itself!