Director of Hitting Development and Program Design @BostonRedSox
Special Asst @DrivelineBB
fmr: Menlo College Hitting Coach and Phillies Hitting Coordinator
Dec 28, 2019 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
The MLB whiff rate last year was 19.2% in 3-1 counts, and 19.7% in 3-2 counts.
The difference in batting average is largely because a strike in a 3-2 count leads to an out, which affects batting average. A strike in a 3-1 count does not lead to an out or affect batting average.
The beauty of analytics is that we can find better metrics for investigating stuff like this regarding approach/swing decisions!
Instead of BA, we should look at impact-only metrics: BA on balls in play is .341 3-2 and .363 3-1.
Nov 8, 2018 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Thread: I've observed that the most successful hitters we train are often the best at processing their movement errors.
They are very concise about their diagnoses when they make a mistake. The bad hitters are often irrational about mistakes & cant use the errors as useful info.
Example: we change the pitch release point (vert, horiz & extension) daily. We change the pitch velo, spin direction & spin rate often. We have training days where we alternate high and low spin FBs every round. We have “velo ladder” days where we increase pitch velo every round
