Improving O's run production

[LookinUp]

48 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I am skeptical the coaches can do much to counter the wall, or improve offense overall, for that matter.

This is the million dollar topic. I know a lot of people are skeptical about this. I personally think you can make significant fundamental improvements over time, but acknowledge we're not talking about 10 year olds here. We're talking about grown men who have built a muscle memory over time. That's hard to change.

I suspect the O's are specifically hoping that they can improve Mateo, and they'll give it a couple of months between spring and the season to see if it's happened. If I were them, I'd have started on day one of the offseason rebuilding his swing from the ground up. Again, I think most here would think that's a fool's errand. We'll see.

[wildcard]

Kind of interesting that the pitching coach can get his pitchers to add pitches, subtract pitches,  change the break  and shape of pitches, work on sequencing pitches, change mechanics to add speed and a hitting coach can't do anything but try to get the hitter to hit the ball hard.

Edited January 16, 2023 by wildcard

[deward]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

Kind of interesting that the pitching coach can get his pitchers to add pitches, subtract pitches,  change the break  and shape of pitches, work on sequencing pitches, change mechanics to add speed and a hitting coach can't do anything but try to get the hitter to hit the ball hard.

Hitting the ball hard is one of the toughest tasks in all of sports. If guys could just change their swings around and spray line drives into the gaps, wouldn't more of them do that? There's still a lot of money out there for high average doubles hitters. I don't think it's a lack of willpower or coaching. 

[Frobby]

4 hours ago, wildcard said:

Kind of interesting that the pitching coach can get his pitchers to add pitches, subtract pitches,  change the break  and shape of pitches, work on sequencing pitches, change mechanics to add speed and a hitting coach can't do anything but try to get the hitter to hit the ball hard.

That’s an exaggeration, but there’s truth to it.  A pitcher has 15* seconds to plan a pitch, wind up and execute it.  A batter has 0.4 seconds to react.  The difference between hitting the ball down the LF line and the RF line is measured in hundredths of a second.  This isn’t slow pitch softball.  Just making consistent contact is a feat.   There’s a reason they say that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports.  I’m not sure that’s literally true, but it’s damned hard.  

[Can_of_corn]

4 hours ago, wildcard said:

Kind of interesting that the pitching coach can get his pitchers to add pitches, subtract pitches,  change the break  and shape of pitches, work on sequencing pitches, change mechanics to add speed and a hitting coach can't do anything but try to get the hitter to hit the ball hard.

That's a bad take even on the scale I have reserved for you.

I know you're old enough to remember Charley Lau and Walt Hriniak.

On the other hand I'm not sure you've noticed how the swing plane of hitters has changed in the last decade.

 

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

That's a bad take even on the scale I have reserved for you.

I know you're old enough to remember Charley Lau and Walt Hriniak.

On the other hand I'm not sure you've noticed how the swing plane of hitters has changed in the last decade.

 

But now we are talking about Fuller and Borgschulte.

[Frobby]

15 minutes ago, wildcard said:

But now we are talking about Fuller and Borgschulte.

And what is the point you are trying to make about them?

Pitching is proactive.   Hitting is reactive.  Coaching the two things is different.  

[wildcard]

27 minutes ago, Frobby said:

And what is the point you are trying to make about them?

Pitching is proactive.   Hitting is reactive.  Coaching the two things is different.  

Just an observation.  There are so many things a pitching can do and it seems like few a hitting coach can do.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

Just an observation.  There are so many things a pitching can do and it seems like few a hitting coach can do.

I’d generally agree there’s more a pitching coach can do.  

[btdart20]

From a team/player perspective:  Runs are trending in the right direction.  And that trend should continue into 2023.  

From a team philosophy/coaching perspective:  Swing mechanics and timing tricks are a little different from player to player.  But there are some consistent check points along the way.  But a phrase we've heard pretty consistently has been 'swing decisions'.  That's a universal for all types of hitters.  The idea is for hitters to put their best swing on their best pitch.  

The O's have post-swing/game feedback rubrics up and down the system.  So, the guys get some feedback (positive and negative) about the decisions they make at the plate.  Kjerstad highlighted it when he spoke after his AFL experience playing within other structures. 

One thing I'll be interested in is how they differentiate between types of hitters (and maybe that's why they have two hitting coaches?).  How will the coaching differ for a guy like Mountcastle than for a guy like Frazier?  Are there different metrics they are looking for?  Did Santander engage with the coaches/philosophy at a different level than some of the other guys on the MLB team?  Did other guys honestly engage but with different results?