The epiphany came on a Tuesday afternoon last week, as Royals starter Jason Hammel worked through a bullpen side session at Kauffman Stadium.
He delivered another pitch in front of pitching coach Dave Eiland. Moments later, Hammel made up his mind. He had pondered the question before, the same one asked by major-league starting pitchers such as Stephen Strasburg, Yu Darvish and Danny Duffy. But as Hammel worked through his mechanics, and listened to his body, he felt like he knew the answer. Why did he need to pitch out of the windup if it felt so much simpler going from the stretch?