While I’m certain these of you who’re studying this could pay attention to what I’m about to say, I’m going to say it anyway: hitting baseballs is tough. In truth, it’s the very purpose I’m penning this piece. As I’ve watched the start of the season, I’ve observed some hitters make tweaks right here and there. Hitting is a recreation of changes; if one factor doesn’t work or doesn’t really feel snug, you attempt the following, and so forth and so forth till one thing clicks. When you’re struggling on the plate, there are some guidelines of thumb to contemplate for those who’re contemplating a change. The very first thing that involves thoughts is apparent: simplify.
There are a couple of methods to interpret that, however what I bear in mind focuses on a hitter’s load. Depending on components akin to bat velocity, barrel acceleration, and pitch identification, a hitter will fall someplace between Javier Báez and Giancarlo Stanton on the motion spectrum. By that, I imply that you would be able to transfer nearly each a part of your physique, or you’ll be able to simply choose your bat up off your shoulder and swing. Neither is essentially higher than the opposite, however for some hitters, an excessive amount of motion (or motion in an inefficient path) can negatively impression bat path or the power to make flush contact on a constant foundation. An adjustment which simplifies your load could make it simpler for a hitter to get the bat on airplane with the baseball.
Take Matt Olson for instance. After regression from 2021 to ’22, he made an adjustment to his setup and cargo, leading to a rise in each Barrel% and xwOBACON. Here is one swing from final 12 months, and one other from final week:
August 18, 2022
April 18, 2023
Olson made a couple of changes as final 12 months progressed, however this one from August caught for some time as he struggled within the second half (110 wRC+). The key distinction is in his hand placement and bat tipping. In 2022, his palms had been farther from his physique, and he cued a bat tip towards the third base dugout earlier than getting his swing began. He modified that by barely bringing in his palms and cueing a bat tip towards the pitcher as a substitute. This modified the reciprocal motion that occurs because of the bat tip.
The transfer you make along with your palms earlier than you swing immediately determines the airplane your barrel will enter the zone. If you’ve got too many strikes, you may make inconsistent entries into the hitting zone. It’s like a pitcher needing a constant launch level to take care of command. Be extra repeatable in your mechanics, and also you’ll have a repeatable entry into the hitting zone. Olson remains to be putting out greater than he desires (35.3%), however his max exit velocity and high quality of contact measures point out he’s making higher contact on common in comparison with final 12 months.
Another participant who is a good instance of that is Lars Nootbaar. Last 12 months, he shocked many when he carried a 125 wRC+ by means of the tip of the 12 months, combining nice plate self-discipline with laborious contact — an ideal recipe for achievement. But within the World Baseball Classic, I observed Nootbaar regarded barely completely different from the earlier 12 months. He narrowed out his posture and opened up his stance much more, making him seem as if he had been getting caught on his again facet. Here is an instance:
Lars Nootbaar plates one other run for Japan!
?: FS1 and the FOX Sports App pic.twitter.com/xf5TqWnw48
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 11, 2023
While he did have a pleasant event, Nootbaar couldn’t maintain the ball off the bottom, and whereas hit a number of them laborious sufficient to get by infielders, he must elevate for his profile to work at its greatest. Here is his dwelling run from earlier within the week of Chris Flexen:
You may not discover at first, however at peak leg elevate, Nootbaar has created a greater angle together with his torso and closed off his stride foot in comparison with his swings within the WBC. This is sort of an identical to his type from 2022. When you’ve got a earlier model of your self that labored, at all times use it as reference for once you’re getting suboptimal outcomes. In Nootbaar’s case, it was clear he had an excessive amount of torso bend at contact through the WBC because of narrowing out, which tousled his swing airplane. He made a easy adjustment that cleaned up his entry into the zone, and it now appears to be like as if he assumed his 2022 type to start out the season.
The last hitter I wish to focus on on this piece is Alek Thomas. Unlike Nootbaar and Olson, he has but to seek out the model of himself that may be constant in opposition to large league pitching. Thomas is a really sturdy participant, and it performs out it in his rotational energy. You can simply see the bat velocity he can produce — a key purpose for his promising prospect pedigree. But he has but to seek out his stride by means of his first 491 main league plate appearances. I take pleasure in watching Thomas; his skillset could be very thrilling. But he strikes me as anyone who can take a web page out of the simplicity guide. Here are a couple of swings of his from this 12 months:
You by no means wish to take one thing away from a hitter that makes them particular; if anyone has an outlier talent, you discover a strategy to construct the swing (or pitch arsenal) round it. But I’m undecided that’s precisely what is going on with Thomas. His carrying instruments are bat velocity and bat-to-ball expertise, not the pre-pitch actions. I picked these three swings as a result of they illuminate a gap in Thomas’ bat path. Hitters that drill center-cut curveballs into the bottom like this (third swing) have steep entries into the hitting zone. That kind of hitter can cowl fastballs on the prime of the zone (first swing) very properly as a result of steepness.
In my opinion, the principle purpose Thomas can’t get on airplane with these curveballs, and typically fastballs within the coronary heart of the plate, is as a result of he will get caught on his bottom throughout his gradual leg elevate, maintaining him from creating sufficient barrel depth to get on airplane earlier with center-cut pitches. I’m not saying he ought to completely take away the leg kick from his profile, but when the additional motion is negatively impacting his course of, then it’s one thing he ought to take into account. Olson and Nootbaar each present examples of how simplification of actions may be useful. When your baseline of bat velocity and bat-to-ball expertise are already above common, all you must do is put your physique in one of the best place to profit from these expertise.
Like I stated at the beginning of this piece, it’s all a recreation of changes. Olson has 183 profession dwelling runs, and he’s nonetheless adjusting to be one of the best model of himself on a constant foundation. Nootbaar realized he bought away from his greatest swing, promptly returned to it, and now appears to be like improbable on the plate as soon as once more. Like many hitters, Thomas remains to be determining what he must do to be one of the best model of himself. Perhaps he can profit from the previous mantra of KISS (the kinder model): (Okay)eep (I)t (S)uper (S)imple.
Content Source: blogs.fangraphs.com