re: Vanderbilt pitcher windup question.

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Baseball rule question In watching the Atlanta vs. Pittsburgh game yesterday Atlanta had a relief pitcher (Jordan Walden I believe) who has a very unusual delivery. I have never seen anything like it. Before releasing any pitch he would take a little hop resulting in both feet being off the ground when he would release the ball. This would appear to be illegal to me. What would stop him (other than laws of gravity) from leaping outside the pitcher's circle before delivering the ball, bringing him much closer to home plate? Rule 8.01 (a) says: The Windup Position. The pitcher shall stand facing the batter, his pivot foot in contact with the pitcher’s plate and the other foot free. ... He shall not raise either foot from the ground, except that in his actual delivery of the ball to the batter, he may take one step backward, and one step forward with his free foot. However when discussing pitching from the set position the rule makes no mention of keeping both feet on the ground. I always was under the impression that the pitcher had to have his pivot foot on the rubber when he released the ball. Is this not the case?

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