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Why is Nick choking up?

Sports Guy

By Sports Guy
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Moose Milligan Hangout Grand Counsel

Moose Milligan

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Gotta wonder if choking up will represent a big shift in Nick's career. If Bautista can tamper with his swing and go from a nobody to a homerun hitting god, there's no reason Nick's choking up can't provide a drastic shift in making him a more consistent and overall better hitter.

I remember reading about Tony Gwynn shifting some things in his swing and approach in the early 90's, IIRC. He was a damn good hitter to begin with but after he tinkered around he reeled off 4 straight batting titles, never dipping below .353.

So it's not unprecedented in baseball history. Obviously the odds are against Nick becoming a drastically better hitter than he already is after choking up, but here's hoping...

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Frobby Hangout Grand Counsel

Frobby

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OPS now at .747, not bad considering he was barely over .600 six weeks ago. He keeps climbing closer to respectability. Wouldn't it be ironic if he ended up setting a career high in BA after hovering below .240 for the better part of two months?

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Remember The Alomar Hangout Veteran Council

Remember The Alomar

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OPS now at .747, not bad considering he was barely over .600 six weeks ago. He keeps climbing closer to respectability. Wouldn't it be ironic if he ended up setting a career high in BA after hovering below .240 for the better part of two months?

You know what's funny? With scoring way down across the league his OPS+ is actually 106. In '09 when Nick put up an OPS of .801, he had an OPS+ of 108. Crazy how much the scoring environment has changed over the past two years.

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Pedro Cerrano Hangout Grand Counsel

Pedro Cerrano

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You know what's funny? With scoring way down across the league his OPS+ is actually 106. In '09 when Nick put up an OPS of .801, he had an OPS+ of 108. Crazy how much the scoring environment has changed over the past two years.

skinny-bonds.jpg

We don't know what you're talking about.

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Sports Guy Hangout Grand Counsel

Sports Guy

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Yeah, he seems noticeably absent. I was waiting for him to come in with a story how choking up means nothing and it is just Nick normalizing or something like that.

There is nothing else for me to say.

Yes, he is hitting for power now...That's great.

Maybe he will be one of those guys that can hit for power while choking up.

Maybe this is just a hot streak with the power?

Right now, he still only has 9 homers and like 14 doubles...That is still poor. Obviously, that is mostly driven by his early numbers and they have all improved.

However, his hands are also lowered, which is where he has always hit better...There is a good chance that has more to do with it than anything because there is actual long term evidence to suggest that the lowered hands are where he thrives.

And yes, a lot of it is just a normalizing of stats...His BABIP was low all year despite a high LD%...which is why I said I didn't feel he had to choke up to begin with because choking up helps with bat control...That was never his issue...His issue was swinging at too many bad pitches and it appears that he has improved in that area.

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BaysoxFan39 Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

BaysoxFan39

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He has been doing that for at least a week now.

He never choked up on the bat like he is now...As if he needed another reason to take power away from his hitting.

Does he feel he needs to just focus on making contact right now?

I honestly believe Nick has always chocked up on the bat some. He has a huge "tape" build up on the knob which prevents his right hand from resting against the knob. That buildup was present last year too. Also remember Barry Bonds chocked up an inch or so and he has hit a few HRs in his day. Chocking up I am told helps lighten the feel of the bat which allows the hitter to swing through the strike zone quicker. This should increase his power numbers as it seems to have already.

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