LOS ANGELES — Will Dion was a high school sophomore pitcher in Louisiana struggling to throw strikes when his pitching coach had an idea.
The coach, Jared Gothreaux, placed a box by Dion's feet. He instructed Dion to put his right foot on it after lifting his leg up and pause before continuing his delivery to the plate. The point was to slow Dion down. Dion, a left-hander, did the drill until it became habit. Then came the final steps: removing the box and executing the delivery in one fluid motion.
One day, a friend noticed something: Dion's new look was identical to Clayton Kershaw's famous hitchy windup.
