This video from Stack gives a look at off-season hitting training with Philadelphia Phillies’ shortstop Jimmy Rollins. It shows some cage drills and batting practice swings along with some insight from hitting coach, Milt Thompson. Rollins talks a bit about bat speed and his hitting approach, especially in the cage – a controlled environment where you should be working towards perfection. Deliberate practice instead of just mindless hacks.
I’ve been posting some articles about the hitting approaches of major league hitters, and seeing that Ichiro just set the record of 9 consecutive 200 hit seasons reminded me of this ESPN.com article by Jim Caple that came out last week:
“He understands he’s a leadoff hitter and his job is to get the bat on the ball and get on base for the people behind him because he can use his speed on the basepaths,…..All you just have to watch him in [batting practice] to see how far he can hit the ball. But he doesn’t get outside of himself during the game, which is a compliment to the discipline he has to stay in his approach and do what he wants to do.
Ichiro’s swing mechanics and combination of speed & power are surely a unique set of tools, but the point is that he’s figured out what works for him to be successful and fill his role on the team. It’s worth mentioning that there is a lot of value in just that – identifying your own strengths and weaknesses and then building your plan as a hitter around those things. Part of your plate discipline as a hitter is being able to execute what you are best able to do.
This previous post was a directive to a USA Today feature where Albert Pujols explained his own swing thoughts and hitting mechanics. More recently, there was an article after a Cardinal win where Pujols gave some more insights into his hitting approach and situational plan:
In that situation, my main job was to try and drive in that run however I could. Elevate the ball and try to hit it deep enough so Colby could score from third base. I wasn’t thinking about hitting the ball out of the park in that situation.”
Made the post about Derek Jeter hitting the inside fastball, so here is Ryan Howard on the same topic. He explains his hitting approach and swing thoughts for pitches on the inner part of the strike zone:
One of the best points in there is that you shouldn’t be trying to swing at the ball too far in. There’s just not much you can do with it. Also a good point in your cage and batting practice is to work in the gaps and stay primarily in the middle of the field.
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick did a nice article on the rising importantce of plate discipline. Atlanta Braves third baseman, Chipper Jones, provided a good definition:
“For me, plate discipline is being able to know what pitch you want to put in play before you step in the box and not swinging at anything else but that,” Jones says.
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