I dont know if anyone remembers, but during spring training Dusty had told Votto to swing the bat more and not take as many pitches. Does it seem to you like the team as a whole is doing that? Ive noticed a big change in Brandon Phillips and hes not as patient anymore. It seems like everytime i watch him bat, he swings and misses at the first pitch. The team in general is working itself into holes constantly and letting the pitchers dictate the pace of the game. We are also not wearing them down as much too considering we have been shut out 3 times this year already. Anybody have any thoughts on this? Frankly i think its time to start looking for a new hitting coach, and if things arent better by July, a replacement for Dusty Baker.
Dusty will at least make it through this year no matter how bad it is. I can see him getting the can early next season if we are this bad too. But remember Dusty doesn't believe in OBP. He thinks hitters with high OBP "clog up the bases". He prefers to put players in the lineup with NO OBP, like Corey Patterson.
Brandon Phillips has never been patient. however, the being aggressive at the plate talk that dusty was spewing before the season had me pretty worried, mostly for the young guys like votto. votto has been plenty successful with his approach, and a patient approach at the plate is best anyway. dusty doesn't need to change everything that isn't broken to begin with. thankfully, i don't think anyone took much of dusty's talk to heart. that could be indicative of a whole other problem though, if no one on the team takes what dusty says seriously.
i also think we would do well to get a new hitting coach. does anyone remember brook jacoby being a good hitter? nothing against the guy personally, just against the job he is doing with our hitters.
Yeah, Chambliss was. We did drop off some after that year, but I've always questioned that move. The big thing on Jacoby was that he was Dunn's hitting coach in AAA back when he hit .300 and twice as many doubles as homers. Where did THAT Dunn go...but anyway, the thought was that Jacoby would be able to bring Dunn back to his prime. Where that leaves the other hitters, I don't know, but that's what I heard. To be fair, Dunn's average jumped from around .230 to around .260 in Jacoby's first year, but apparently that was not a lasting effect...
I can't put too much blame on Dusty right now. He just got into the system this year and the team needs some time to come together. Maybe today is the day that they turned things around and start playing up to potential. Dusty may have a part in that but it could also be that players like Volquez, Cueto, Votto, Keppinger and Harang are carrying the team on their backs and providing a solid example for the rest of the team. It's a long season and Dusty could prove himself in the end. Then again, we could go into a slide again and he could end up being terrible.
The biggest problem I see in hitting TECHNIQUE is Griffey and Dunn's resistance to "going with" the pitch down and away... As long as they step toward first and swing with all they've got, they will continue to swing and miss or roll it to the 2nd baseman... I see other "great" hitters take that pitch the other way... That's why those people are batting .300+ and Griffey and Dunn are in the low .200s
Well, Dunn's NEVER been able to go the other way. But what happened to Griffey? Way back when his home-run chart had nearly as many in left field as in right. Not so anymore. And even to last year, his last good year, when he wasn't swinging for the fences he was hitting the ball wherever he needed to, instead of pulling it every time. Maybe it has something to do with hitting 600; so much attention is on him that its gotta be in his head, not to mention the pitcher's heads. Everyone is staying away from Griffey, even more than they used to. Hopefully once this thing is done, things will return to normal for him...
