NewYork.Mets.com

By Kevin Czerwinski / MLB.com

Jeremy Griffiths and 10 other Mets pitchers will go through a series of tests this week in Birmingham, Ala. (Ed Betz/AP)

Peterson, known for his cutting edge techniques and analysis, is certainly not like pitching coaches from days gone by. Sure, many pitching coaches today use computers and films but Peterson has taken breaking down a pitcher just a bit further, using bio-analysis to determine what a hurler is doing wrong.

Part of the reason Peterson's staff in Oakland was so successful was because he brought many of the pitchers to Birmingham, Ala., every spring to work out at the American Sports Medicine Institute. The Institute was founded by renowned sports surgeon Dr. James Andrews, and Peterson has been taking advantage of its testing facilities since 1989.

Just as he has in the past, Peterson will be in Birmingham again this year, taking 11 New York pitchers to work out and be tested. Aaron Heilman, Jeremy Griffiths, Braden Looper, Scott Kazmir, Royce Ring, Matt Peterson, Bob Keppel, Pat Strange, Jeremy Hill, Tyler Yates and Neal Musser will be at ASMI on Tuesday and Wednesday to be tested and look for areas of improvement.

In addition to getting a comprehensive physical and orthopedic exam, the players will throw a short bullpen session of up to 40 pitches. The sessions will be filmed in high speed so Peterson can break down every motion in their deliveries, thus coming up with the best possible plan to help them improve.

The players, in fact, never see the test results. It's all for Peterson to digest and then use to form a regiment for that specific pitcher.

"It's really an education," Peterson said. "It's such cutting-edge stuff. It gives you such an insight on things that you can't see on regular film or in slow motion. I guess the best way to phrase it is to give you insight specifically into what their needs are.

"If you're driving a car and you feel it pulling to the right, you know something's there. Or you can feel nothing but all of a sudden, you're stuck on the side of the road. From a coaching standpoint, this allows you to design a very customized routine based on a pitcher's needs, giving insight to potential injuries and basically keeping that engine running clean."

Peterson first became involved with ASMI in 1989 when he was the pitching coach for the Double-A Birmingham Barons. Al Goldis, who is currently one of the Mets super scouts, was in charge of the White Sox's minor league system at the time and suggested Peterson go investigate the program.

Dr. Andrews originally got the program started because, according to Peterson, he was performing many surgeries, and he wanted to know why all these players, specifically pitchers, were getting hurt.

"He said I needed to get these guys over to the lab for a bio-analysis," Peterson said. "My understanding was the White Sox had a relationship with Dr. Andrews at the time. Talk about great fortune. I happened to be the first guy there. It was really an experience when I saw that for the first time.

"It was a good four or five years before we felt like we had a good working knowledge of the program. It took me a long time to try and understand and keep coming back to ask questions of the people that are doing the research and development. I feel fortunate that I had this opportunity early in my career. It opened up a whole new insight."

This program could have an immediate impact on how New York's starting rotation looks this year. Though the club signed Scott Erickson last week, Heilman, Griffiths and Yates will be competing for the same fifth starter's spot and something Peterson finds in Birmingham might give them an edge. Heilman has already been working out in Port St. Lucie, Fla., for more than a month.

"If you design better programs you get a better product," said Peterson, who will fly down to Port St. Lucie on Friday to begin preparing for Spring Training. "We have said we're an organization based on pitching and defense. We went out and got Mike Cameron and Kaz Matsui, and we improved the defense. If we pitch the same as we pitch last year, we've already made significant improvements. But if we pitch better ..."

Kevin Czerwinski is a reporter for MLB.com. This story is not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.