Angels lefty Scott Kazmir would not be where he is now; starting Game 4 of the ALCS against the Yankees, if not for the work he did on a high school field in New Jersey in early June with pitching guru Rick Peterson, two ex-Mets working together.
Kazmir knew something was wrong early in the season. He felt fine physically, but his mechanics were off, his velocity was down and his ERA (7.69) was up after his first nine starts with the Rays. So he visited Dr. James Andrews’ ASMI lab in Birmingham to get a biomechanical analysis, which involves a computer recording every movement of a pitcher’s delivery.
The lab had baseline information on Kazmir from when Peterson took him there when he was with the Mets in 2004, before the organization made the decision to trade Kazmir for Victor Zambrano. When Kazmir brought the ASMI info back to Tampa Bay, “We didn’t know how to read the results at all,” Kazmir explained, so it was decided that it would be best that Peterson digest the information and help.
During his time away from the Mets, Peterson founded 3P Sports to build the most advanced pitching program available based on Dr. Andrews’ research, so this was the perfect pitching marriage.
“Everything we did with Kaz is part of the 3P program,” Peterson said.
Kazmir flew to New Jersey with the blessing of Tampa Bay management and worked with Peterson for three days. The first day, they took to the diamond at Shore Christian Academy in Wall, N.J. The second day, they worked at a yoga studio in the city, using the mirrors in the studio to work on Kazmir’s form.
During the three days, key drills were used like shadow throwing and long toss with eyes closed to better feel the body’s movements. Kazmir’s delivery was cleaned up and amazingly he picked up three miles on his fastball and his changeup and breaking ball returned.
“I got a whole lot out of it,” Kazmir said. “The stuff that Rick preaches, that’s exactly what I needed, rhythm, I needed a lot of things, I felt like I was too mechanical so he put quite a few drills in place to get me right back where I needed to be.”
Noted Peterson, “This is really a tribute to the 3P program and Dr. Andrews’ research. Think of it as a car, if you need new brake pads, new shocks, a front-end alignment and a new muffler and you drop it off at the shop. You pick it up a few days later and you say, ‘Wow, it’s amazing how good my car’s running now.’ It doesn’t take that long, we’re not rebuilding the engine.”
Kazmir’s commitment to get right has paid huge dividends. He was able to get back in the pitching groove and the cash-strapped Rays eventually traded him, moving $20 million off their books for the next two years. And now, Kazmir is starting in the ALCS for the second straight October.
In his six starts with the Angels after coming over at the end of August, Kazmir posted a 1.73 ERA. He always has been at his best against the Yankees.
“From the time I was a little kid I always imagined being in the big leagues and pitching in the big games,” Kazmir said.
Peterson said the biomechanical analysis was essential. Plus he said, as an amateur, Kazmir went through Jerry Ford’s Perfect Game showcase for scouts, and video from that period also proved vital in getting Kazmir back to his pitching roots.
“Rick got me back to throwing in a natural way,” said Kazmir, who plans to follow up with Peterson in the offseason.
“This is a major credit to Kaz,” Peterson said. “He got himself right.”
kevin.kernan@nypost.com