Justin Turner has confronted plenty of fastballs over time. Now in his fifteenth season, and his first with the Boston Red Sox, the 38-year-old infielder has logged 5,597 plate appearances, variety of them towards pitchers with elite heaters. Moreover, he’s had his fair proportion of success. One of the sport’s most-respected hitters, he has a 128 wRC+ to go together with a .289/.365/.467 slash line for his profession.
Four years after interviewing him for one of many early installments of my Talks Hitting sequence, I caught as much as Turner to deal with one particular side of his craft: the artwork of hitting a fastball.
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David Laurila: How completely different is it to organize for high-velocity fastballs when not all high-velocity fastballs are the identical? Does that make sense?
Justin Turner: “It does. There are guys in the game that throw hard and put up big [velocity] numbers, but for whatever reason it doesn’t feel that hard when you’re in the box. There are also guys that don’t throw as hard. but in the box it feels like they’re throwing harder than what the number says. When you get a guy who throws hard and it feels hard, that’s a pretty good combination for their side of it.”
Laurila: Who are a number of the pitchers who stand out in these respects?
Turner: “I don’t have a specific example in mind, but there are just some pitchers where you get in the box and… I mean, guys will talk about it. It’s like, ‘Man, that actually feels a little light, it doesn’t feel like 100 [mph].’ I don’t want to call anyone out, trash their fastballs or anything like that.”
Laurila: What about guys the place it does really feel laborious?
Turner: “Spencer Strider is a guy that throws hard and it feels hard. Jacob deGrom throws hard and it feels hard. There are guys where the fastball comes out of their hand and it looks like an aspirin. The ball looks smaller because they’re throwing so hard.”
Laurila: What about pitchers who don’t have large velocity however the ball will get on you fairly fast?
Turner; “Kutter Crawford here [with the Red Sox] is 92–95 but he has 19–20 vert, so the fastball feels harder than what the gun is telling you. There are plenty of guys like that. They call it ride, spin rate, whatever. Zac Gallen is one of those guys. We faced a guy with the A’s who I think just got sent down. [Richard] Lovelady, I think his name is. He’s a lefty who throws 92, but he’s got extension and it kind of explodes out of his hand. Kenley Jansen, he’s 92–95, and his extension and the characteristics of his cutter make it play up. Chris Martin… I mean, he’s a guy that throws hard and it feels hard. He’s 97–98 with elite extension. It feels like he’s throwing 102.”
Laurila: What concerning the preparation side I discussed on the onset?
Turner: “In order for us to organize for a man who’s 95–97 with good extension, my thought, and my dialog to the blokes, can be like, ‘Hey, treat it like 100. Get ready like you’re on the point of hit 100, though it’s 95–97, as a result of it’s going to really feel prefer it will get on you slightly bit.’
“It’s a cue to organize for a pitcher, identical to anything. For occasion, if it’s a sinkerball man, you say, ‘Hey, look for him up, like at your neck.’ If it begins waist excessive, you don’t need to swing at it as a result of it’s going to be a ball. Treating 95 like 100 is similar psychological cue as wanting in an space, or making a pitch begin in sure spot.
“With the guys where it feels lighter, I say this all the time, it’s like, ‘Hey, don’t feel like you have to cheat to the fastball. You can see it, make a decision, and put a good swing on it.’ When the gun says 100, everyone’s instinct is like, ‘Oh, I’ve gotta go, I’ve gotta get ready, I’ve gotta start my swing early to catch up to 100.’ But again, there are guys where it doesn’t feel like 100. To have that thought, for guys to understand that before they face the guy, I think is huge.”
Laurila: Giving recommendation to youthful hitters is one thing you’re identified for. You’re seen as a mentor, virtually as an additional hitting coach.
Turner: “I spend as much time in the cage watching other guys as I do working on myself in the cage. I want to know their swings. I want to know their thoughts. I want to know what they’re going through. I want to know what they’re feeling. At the same time, I want to offer up anything that I’ve gone through in the past that might be similar, some thoughts and ideas that I’ve used, to try to help them get a better feel when they’re scuffling a little bit. I would say that I invest way more time on everyone else’s swing than I do on my own.”
Laurila: Any last ideas?
Turner: “I suppose the largest factor when speaking hitting, and I’ve stated this a number of instances this 12 months, is that what’s being missed rather a lot is timing — hitters being on time. Everyone desires to run the swing adjustments, devices and whatnot within the cage and make these changes. But I feel guys typically aren’t ensuring that they’re on time earlier than they go and alter their swing.
“My point is that everyone’s swing works. If you’re on time, you have a chance for your swing to work. If you’re not on time, no matter how good your swing is, it’s not going to work. So if you’re not on time and you think your swing is broken, maybe it’s not your swing. Maybe you’re just not on time. So before you go overhaul your swing, you need to make sure you’re on time.”
Content Source: blogs.fangraphs.com