Davis and the Shift

Chris Davis discusses the downside for him of hitting against the shift:

The shift has perplexed Davis – anyone who follows the team should know that he’s frequently been retired on balls that otherwise would have fallen into right field – and he’s devoting part of his sessions with Coolbaugh to finding solutions. He knows that teams will continue to work him inside.

“That’s kind of the problem that you run into,” he said. “I felt like there was a point in the season where I was really trying so hard consciously to go the other way that I was missing pitches on the inner half that I could have done a lot of damage with. And it’s two-fold. You want to go up there and look for a pitch that you can do something with, but at the same time you don’t want to manipulate your swing to where you’re carving a pitch that’s inside to the left side for a weak ground ball or a popup.

“They say it’s a game of adjustments and that couldn’t be truer as it pertains to me and it’s something I’m going to have to be conscious of and continue to make adjustments and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

I really don’t envy pull hitters today. Davis’s approach appears to be hammer the inside pitch, which is fine. That approach becomes so ingrained that finessing the outside pitch becomes near impossible. Taking the inside pitch the opposite way is fine if for a hitter who keeps the bat in the hitting zone a long time. Davis decides he is going to swing, and puts everything into it. I’m not sure how he practices this. Maybe take a situation where power isn’t as important, for example, leading off an inning with the Orioles in the lead. Concentrate on getting the bat on the ball rather than hitting one out of the park. He is strong enough that a few might fly out in leftfield. I know that is incredibly difficult, but Davis is now on the downside of his career, and his strikeout rate was way up last season. Making contact would not be a bad adjustment.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2CB8VQM