Kyle Schwarber and Fiddling with Swing Mechanics

[zambonir]

There was a shift when he had a .306 BABIP too.

I think the larger point here, and germane to Crawford, is that the best way to have a higher BABIP that's not entirely based on luck is to hit the ball harder (and higher). Speed is going to help you get more IF singles but hitting the ball out of the IF is still far more desirable (which is why Rojas needs to do it more too).

Schwarber's hard hit percentage was actually up 6% compared to last year., and his average EV was up around a mile per hour. That probably came against LHP mostly too I bet.

They calculate XBABIP now. The difference between that and the BABIP would provide a bit more quantification of the luck.

[LegoDoom]

There was a shift when he had a .306 BABIP too.

I'm not arguing that the .306 year was lucky, but there are a lot of years with the shift that points to why .209 was unluckly.

[Austinfan]

I think you have to differentiate hitting the ball in the air v not hitting it on the ground.

Schwarber should be angling for HRs b/c he has the power to hit them on a regular basis.

Someone like Crawford should modify his swing to hit line drives instead of GBs, but not too much b/c most of his flyballs will end up on the warning track. So you want gap power, not HR power out of him.

Rojas should just make contact and let his speed manufacture hits. What you don't want is Ks, because you're not going to get enough power to compensate for wasted ABs.

[andyb]

I think you have to differentiate hitting the ball in the air v not hitting it on the ground.

Schwarber should be angling for HRs b/c he has the power to hit them on a regular basis.

He is. But he hit more ground balls in 2024 and that was part of the reason his BABIP increased as presumably he was hitting some of them to the left side where there were bigger holes (shift or not). Schwarber really did not hit lots of home runs to the opposite field. He can, but rarely does it as most of his power is pull based when he hits the ball very hard.

[Matt_Winkelman]

Someone like Crawford should modify his swing to hit line drives instead of GBs, but not too much b/c most of his flyballs will end up on the warning track. So you want gap power, not HR power out of him.

Justin Crawford this year had the same 90th percentile EV this year as Trea Turner and Nick Castellanos. In terms of raw power, he is not a slap hitter. The ground ball problem is because his swing and timing are bad. They have worked on the bat path some, but a lot of his problem if you watch him is that he is late on the ball because his arms and hips are disengaged and his pitch recognition has been suspect. When we are talking about swing changes and approach changes for Crawford one is sort of common among a bunch of the major and minor league guys which is looking for certain pitches and locations to do damage on. He has some power up and away, but a lot down and in (like many left handed hitters) and that is where he should look to get to his power as opposed to hacking for power all the time. The swing changes are more about getting everything on time and together, and is a timing and I think repetition thing, and it is hard. But really you want him to get to a point where his goal is to be on time and in sync so the fall back is what he is doing now. They are also trying to get him to not be Maikel Franco or Johan Rojas (or Alec Bohm) where he is swinging and making contact on pitches (down and away) that he just is not going to do anything productive with.

[phillychuck]

Matt, honest question. Do you think minor or major league coaches can change a hitter's pitch recognition or get them to stop hacking at pitches they can't do anything with? I've seen little evidence of that. Hitters I've followed through their whole careers had the same flaws as 10-year-vets they had when they broke in (Burrell/Casty/Luzinski--low and away sliders, JT- high FBs, Rollins, bad breaking pitches, etc, etc.) I'm pretty skeptical of success changing approach. Very skeptical. And the skepticism is based on a total lack of counter-examples. Remember when they tried to get Michel Bourn to swing at more pitches b/c he took too many walks? Ruined a year for him in the minors, and he posted 18.4 WAR in 4 MLB seasons with Houston and the Braves who actually encouraged him to be patient. Never had an ISO over 110.

[mdougherty12]

All of the launch angle guys were able to change their approach at the plate, both swing mechanics and what pitches they were swinging at. The early launch angle guys, like Justin Turner and JD Martinez, generally were working with outside hitting coaches.

[Matt_Winkelman]

Yes...but within limits. I don't think coaching is going to completely change someone magically. But we are talking about humans with their own set of limitations and growth. Some times a guy just is never going to be able to pick up spin and that is just that, sometimes taking away that part of something breaks other parts of the process. But also some times it is hearing and seeing it in a new way that makes it click.

I know that isn't really a satisfying answer, but I tend to think these guys are not fully set in stone, but also not say there is a miracle cure either.