Sunday, November 29, 2009

What is Bat Lag and what is the easiest way to teach it?

The simplest definition of Bat Lag is that the hitter’s hands go through the zone first, thus causing the barrel to lag or follow the hands throughout the zone. The complex part is teaching your young hitter how to establish Bat Lag and incorporate it into a consistent short, professional-type swing.


Usually, when I begin teaching Bat Lag to young hitters, I get the look. You know the look. The one where their head is nodding yes, but their eyes are saying no. Or to be more exact, the look that says, “You might as well be teaching me Chinese Arithmetic in Latin, because I don’t have a clue what you are talking about”. This is where you, as a coach, cut to the chase and ask a question most young hitters have never considered. “What part of the ball are you trying to hit?”

Most young hitters will say (albeit incorrectly), “the back of the ball.” A few will even tell you, “the top of the ball.” The answer you want to hear in order to establish bat lag and as a result, a short, professional-type swing is “the Inside Half of the baseball.” (Quick Side note: Many Big Leaguers actually focus even more specifically on the Top-Inside Quarter of the ball, rather than the Inside Half, but remember, these are Big Leaguers!!!)

If you take a young hitter and do a simple side flip toss drill with him, with emphasis on where the point of contact is established on the baseball, you will see the fallacy of a young hitter making contact with the back of the ball (and the subsequent lean-back, lazy fly ball or ground ball with top spin) and/or the top of the ball (and the resulting lunging chopper/hard ground ball into the turf, or lazy line drive settling harmlessly into the netting of the cage), and the benefits of establishing contact on the inside half of the ball (and the consistently hard line drives which will ride through the back of the cage one swing after another!)

At the conclusion of this drill, sit down for a moment with your young hitter and ask him, “Now, if you could take all your ground balls and your fly balls from last year, and instead create line drives this year simply by hitting the inside half of the baseball, how much higher do you think your batting average would be?” Trust me. The look of confusion will disappear and instead, it will be replaced by a new look; the look of a young man who is dreaming about having a great season at the plate!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Tim Lincecum's Recipe for Success!

Yesterday, Tim Lincecum won his second straight N. L. Cy Young Award, narrowly beating out the Two-Headed Ace from St. Louis, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright.  "The Freak" twisted and lunged his way into a repeat of last season's award, despite still only standing 5'11" and weighting 172 lbs (Side note:  There are probably still Major League Organizations today that would not draft him because he doesn't "Project".)  So how does he do it, you might ask?  And is he an arm injury waiting to happen?
Tim Lincecum's recipe for success is based on two very important factors that all pitchers can learn from (not just guys who throw 94 mph).  Lincecum's repertoire includes a two-seam fastball that he throws predominantly for movement, rather than radar gun numbers, mixed with a devastating change.  He does possess a good curve.  However, he tends to only use it against the very best of major league hitters, (and sparingly at that.) 

Why is that recipe so important, you might ask?  All great pitching coaches (and I have to put his Dad in this class...That's who taught him to pitch) understand "develop the fastball first, then the change up, then the curve."  There is much less stress on the arm in throwing fastballs and in essence, in throwing the change, due to the fact, you use the same arm action as the two-seamer, with a adjusted grip.  And yet, if you turn on the Little League World Series every August, you see one young boy after another throwing curve after curve in an effort to win at all costs...including the long term development of their arms.

By utilizing a pitching style that stands in complete contrast to the yearly spectacle in Williamsport, this recipe for success has served Lincecum well.  I had the opportunity to see him pitch in person in July, and was amazed at the amount of Big League hitters who were reduced to Guessing Changeup at the plate because it was a facsimile of his two-seamer with a 10 to 15 mph differential, and how very few breaking balls he actually threw over the course of a game.

And it is for this reason alone, I predict Lincecum will pitch relatively free from arm injury for many years.  His pitch selection puts very little wear and tear on his arm.  He uses his lower half better than most (if not all) of Major League Pitchers.  And he understands over the course of a game when to get the strikeout, when to get the groundball, and this time of year, when to collect another Cy Young Award.




   

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Hot Stove: Atlanta Braves.

What would you do if you were Frank Wren this off-season?  The Braves are close (evident by their wild finish in '09), and there is no reason to dismantle the group of great players they have.  So what do you do?

And hold on, Cowboy.  First, you have to think Payroll.  A GM's job is not only to put the best team possible on the field, but also to make money for in this case, Liberty Media (Current Owners of the Braves...Oh, for the days back when it was ole' Ted.).

You need a first baseman.  You need a Outfielder (at least until Heyward is ready).  And you need a Closer.  With the re-signing of Tim Hudson, you have a bit of SP depth (a luxury in today's world).  You have one of the best in the business in McCann behind the plate.  You have a solid keystone combo with Prado and Escobar, and a Hall of Famer in Chipper at third.  You have a former All-Star in McLouth in Center, and Pure Grit with Diaz in Left (and people in the South, love grits).

And on top of everything else, it's Bobby's last year.  You need to send the old man out the right way (which is on top of the baseball world!)

RF:  Although there are attractive RH hitting options out there, (mainly Bay and Holliday) their price tag is "too rich for my blood."  I think the perfect alternative for the Braves would be Xavier Nady.  I think he would add a much needed RH power bat to the middle of the lineup, and I don't know if you remember or not, but when this guy was healthy (he is recovering from Tommy John surgury...Something that won't affect his swing in the least), he had serious thunder in his bat (especially the opposite way!)

1B:  I'm a loyal guy, and I believe the Braves will do the right thing here and re-sign Adam LaRoche.  He did a terrific job for the Braves after coming over from Boston and his improved play was very evident.  Case closed, he deserves to come back.

Closer:  This is very things get sticky.  I don't feel re-signing Gonzalez or Soriano would be good moves.  Letting both go, frees up the necessary money needed for LaRoche and Nady.  So a possible trade could be in the works here.  We do have pitching depth (something other clubs would love to have), so this is where the wheeling and dealing comes into play.  Last year, Wren got Vazquez from the White Sox (and looked like a genius doing it).  Let's see what rabbit he pulls out this year!

Let me know what you think.  What would you do if you were Frank Wren?





  

Monday, November 16, 2009

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Food for Thought...

Last week, a very good friend of mine, Chuck Franzago, forwarded me this article to review,   (http://www.chrisoleary.com/projects/Baseball/Pitching/RethinkingPitching/Essays/DeathToTheInvertedW.html),  and after reading the article, I think there could be something to this.


In studying (and teaching) fundamentals, you could not produce a more perfect prototypical pitcher than Mark Prior.  Unfortunately though, Mark has had nothing but arm injuries since becoming a professional.  His one bright shining season of '03 has been overshadowed with one injury after another and a career that never lived up to expectations.  But again, with fundamentals a smooth as silk, a million dollar arm, the makeup of a champion, and the label of a "can't miss" prospect, how could this happen?

Perhaps it is the Inverted "W" position of his arm action...I don't know.  But I do know if I had a young son who was learning to pitch, I would pay special attention to this. 

Let me know your thoughts. 
    

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The Best Team Money Can Buy!



Late in the summer of 2008, Yankee fans and Columnists from all over New York were screaming from the rooftops for Brian Cashman to "tear the Yankees apart!"  (www.nysun.com/sports/these-yankees-need-to-be.../84323/).  Deemed old and overpaid, the Yankees missed the playoffs for the first time since '93 ('94 doesn't count due to the Strike).  And yet, despite their disappointing finish, Brian Cashman had the insight to instead build up, rather than tear down.

Armed with an open checkbook, Cashman (have you ever noticed the irony in that name?) went wild in the market finding upgrades at first base (Mark Teixeira to the tune of $20 million a year + a $5 million dollar bonus), a #1 starter to replace the retired Mike Mussina (C.C. Sabathia for the surprising low total of only $14 million a year...oh, but don't forget the $9 million dollar bonus) and a Strong #2 Starter, A. J. Burnett (for only $16.5 million a year...No bonus...Sorry A.J.)

Cashman also made a very shrewd move acquiring Nick Swisher from the White Sox to replace Bobby Abreu in Right, (and giving the Yanks a little personality or "flavor" in the process).  And 2009 saw a healthy return of two of the best clutch hitters in baseball and RBI producers in postseason history, Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui.

But Cashman's best move (and without a doubt, most efficient) has been the building of a $840,225 bridge.  The signing of Sabathia and Burnett allowed the Yankees to move Joba Chamberlain ($432,575) and Phil Hughes($407,650) into the pen, and in essence, create a bridge to the best closer in baseball, Mariano Rivera ($15 million a year and worth every penny) and that bridge (as well as $208,097,414 total greenbacks) is the reason the Yankees are the best team money can buy!