| 2011-09-20 13:00:00 (link to chat) | How did Curtis Granderson hit lefties so well this year? Fluke, or did he finally "figure it out" given enough PAs against them?
(Aaron from NYC) | While I don't expect him to keep hitting .275/.353/.615 against lefties, his results aren't a fluke. Granderson dedicated himself to tackling his lefty problem by reworking his swing late last year with the help of Kevin Long, and the results against pitchers of both hands have been convincing. (Jay Jaffe) |
| 2011-04-05 13:00:00 (link to chat) | Both the YES and ESPN announcers pointed out during last night's broadcast that Jeter has had trouble implementing Kevin Long's mechanical changes, going back to his old stride in batting practice and generally looking caught in-between during games. Curtis Granderson took 3 days to implement Long's changes last year and came back raking. A difference in age and accumulated muscle memory, or ego?
(Cult of Basebaal from Los Angeles Anaheim of Pasadena) | Can I go with "C" all of the above? Jeter has a long record of experiencing great success doing it his way, and I'm sure that's hard to let go of. At the same time, he doesn't have the skills he used to, and has had trouble recognizing that. His work with Long would seem to indicate that he finally saw the writing on the wall in terms of his declining hand speed, but recidivism isn't surprising. (Steven Goldman) |
| 2011-04-05 13:00:00 (link to chat) | Will only time tell about Granderson hitting lefties or did he look that good in spring training?
(Matt from New York) | Kevin Long and he really have seemed to figure out an approach that works for him, and I'd like to think he will be surprising LOOGYs all year long. One reason I believe is that the Yankees have had some recent lefty hitters, like Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui, who were unusually adept at altering their approach and hitting opposing lefties, and so there is a history of success and reservoir of learning to be drawn from there. (Steven Goldman) |
| 2010-09-13 13:00:00 (link to chat) | Nick Swisher's walk rate has collapsed this year, but his BABIP when pulling the ball as a LHB is .540, which has apparently made up the difference in singles through the hole with men on first. What do you make of this? Good sign, bad sign, six/half dozen?
(Christopher from Nashville) | As I have no basis for comparison or appreciation of sample size with that kind of figure, I make nothing of it. I will say that the work Swisher's done to rework his swing with hitting coach Kevin Long has paid off handsomely, and that despite the walk rate he's a better hitter now than he was last year - the hits are more valuable than the walks - and he's a big reason the Yanks are in first place despite age catching up to Jeter, A-Rod and Posada. (Jay Jaffe) |
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