Lamb Chops

Mark Simon looks at the adjustments Jake Lamb made to his swing:

“I lowered my hands [in the stance] and got a leg kick going,” Lamb said. “The main goal was to create a bat path where I’m entering the [hitting] zone earlier and leaving the zone later.”

Note that this isn’t making his swing longer, it’s spending more time in the hitting zone. Tony Gwynn and Derek Jeter hit like this. The hips fire, but the bat stays back, giving the batter more time to adjust to the pitch. You don’t normally think of this type of hitter as a power hitter, but Lamb appears to be not as extreme as Jeter and Gwynn. His strikeouts are up, but so are his walks. That indicates to me that in addition to the mechanical adjustment, Lamb became more selective at the plate. I really don’t see it in his plate discipline stats, so maybe pitchers are being more careful to him. Dave Magadan wants him to reduce his strikeouts to raise his batting average.

Magadan’s next goal is to help Lamb cut back on his strikeouts, to turn him into a hitter who can hit .315 instead of .290. He thinks his pupil is up for the challenge.

“[What impresses me] is how hard he works and how well he knows his swing,” Magadan said. “When you make a comment about his takeback or leg kick, whatever it is, he’s in tune with what you’re talking about and able to make adjustments right away. He’s got strength he’s got bat speed. He’s a really smart kid who believes in himself. Those are things conducive to having guys improve significantly.”

Lamb is still early in his prime years, so we’ll see how far he goes.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/29r2tO5