Ryan Mountcastle 2024

[Sports Guy]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

I do think his plate approach has gotten better.  His level of Adam Jones-ness of swinging at low and outside sliders has decreased a bit.

Adam Jones had those same moments where so many people thought he turned the corner.

[Moose Milligan]

13 minutes ago, Frobby said:

For now.  Will he maintain it?  That’s the multimillion dollar question.  

Heart says yes, mind says no.

Memories are funny, they play tricks on you but they might not always be accurate.

As a comp, my memory of Adam Jones was that he'd go on a two week stretch where he'd finally, FINALLY, lay off those low and outside sliders.  And you'd think...man, he's turning a corner.  You could see him at the plate finally laying off those sliders, but you could also tell that it was taking every fiber of his being to do so.  And then two weeks later, he'd be hacking at them.  I'm not sure if my memories of this are correct, but that's how I remember Adam Jones.

I don't get that vibe from Mountcastle.  I think he's come a long way, it seems more...ingrained?  I don't get the feeling that he's really fighting against himself to lay off pitches he'd have swung at two or three years ago.

[Malike]

5 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Heart says yes, mind says no.

Memories are funny, they play tricks on you but they might not always be accurate.

As a comp, my memory of Adam Jones was that he'd go on a two week stretch where he'd finally, FINALLY, lay off those low and outside sliders.  And you'd think...man, he's turning a corner.  You could see him at the plate finally laying off those sliders, but you could also tell that it was taking every fiber of his being to do so.  And then two weeks later, he'd be hacking at them.  I'm not sure if my memories of this are correct, but that's how I remember Adam Jones.

I don't get that vibe from Mountcastle.  I think he's come a long way, it seems more...ingrained?  I don't get the feeling that he's really fighting against himself to lay off pitches he'd have swung at two or three years ago.

I think he's doing a much better job this season spitting on bad sliders, a pitch he would swing at out of the hand quite frequently. I don't fault him for swinging at good sliders, everyone gets owned by them.

[Moose Milligan]

5 minutes ago, Malike said:

I think he's doing a much better job this season spitting on bad sliders, a pitch he would swing at out of the hand quite frequently. I don't fault him for swinging at good sliders, everyone gets owned by them.

Yeah, but some get owned more than others.

I look back at that spat he had with Buck a few years ago...Buck wanted him to be more patient, RMC was dead set on swinging at practically everything.  I don't ever think it was an issue of him not being able to recognize the pitch, it was more of an issue that he thought he could hit it.

 

 

[Malike]

Just now, Moose Milligan said:

Yeah, but some get owned more than others.

I look back at that spat he had with Buck a few years ago...Buck wanted him to be more patient, RMC was dead set on swinging at practically everything.  I don't ever think it was an issue of him not being able to recognize the pitch, it was more of an issue that he thought he could hit it.

 

 

Good sliders look like fastballs, I don't know if he thought he could hit it or if he thought it was a fastball. In any event, so far he's been pretty good at not chasing bad ones this year, I hope he keeps it up.

[Chavez Ravine]

12 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Heart says yes, mind says no.

Memories are funny, they play tricks on you but they might not always be accurate.

As a comp, my memory of Adam Jones was that he'd go on a two week stretch where he'd finally, FINALLY, lay off those low and outside sliders.  And you'd think...man, he's turning a corner.  You could see him at the plate finally laying off those sliders, but you could also tell that it was taking every fiber of his being to do so.  And then two weeks later, he'd be hacking at them.  I'm not sure if my memories of this are correct, but that's how I remember Adam Jones.

I don't get that vibe from Mountcastle.  I think he's come a long way, it seems more...ingrained?  I don't get the feeling that he's really fighting against himself to lay off pitches he'd have swung at two or three years ago.

That’s my memory of AJ as well. He needed white noise and yoga to find those two weeks for a few times a year. I’m not sure it’s any more ingrained with Mounty. But I think finding it for three weeks and a handful more times a year makes a big difference in our perception.

[interloper]

Does anyone have any interesting opinions on Mounty's lack of home runs? 

Last night was a classic example. He smoked two balls in back-to-back ABs to dead center and they died at the track. Then immediately after his 2nd one, Kjerstad smoked one to dead center for a home run. I honestly really felt bad for Mounty, lol. 

Obviously the guy has enormous power, but he also is having his best season while having one of his lighter home run years. On pace for the most doubles of his career, though, and he's currently got the highest SLG since 2021. Much more of a pure hitter this year, at least so far. 

That said, though, it's tough to see him come up short a lot on balls you'd think would be home runs, and I'm not just talking about the Wall. It's happened quote a few times to the opposite field this year in various ball parks as well. 

Ultimately, who cares, I guess, because we lead the world in dingers. Just thought it was an interesting topic. Of course, knowing Mounty, he will go on a home run tear for 3 weeks and this will be moot. 

[Ripken]

He's hit the top of some walls this year so I think there's been a little bad luck.  If he had around 14 HRs we wouldn't think anything of it.  I share yours, and his, frustration though.  I thought that first ball was a HR last night.  The double that McCann couldn't score on a couple games ago looked like a HR off the bat, too.  Seems to me like he's hitting a lot of ground balls, too.

I love the guy, and I know offense is down and his deeper stats look good, but I feel like his .786 OPS is disappointing.  Good/great team guy and defensive 1B?  Yes.  Lots of HHBs?  Yes.  So, I guess we can ignore some of his more traditional stats but I also feel like we're saying that every year and this is his age 27 season.  Maybe he'll hit two bombs tonight, get his OPS to .820 and we can laugh about this tomorrow.