A not so Original Thought on Moncada

[Richie]

I'm not exactly treading new ground here in proclaiming that Moncada looks uncomfortable and robotic in the batter's box. 

However, it seems to me (an armchair wanna be guru) that he looks quite relaxed, rhythmic and comfortable when his hands are low (usually chest area) before the opposing pitcher comes to his set. Then when the pitcher does so -- his arms go up, his bat plane nearly levels out parallel to the ground, hands go up closer to ear level and his body tenses up rather dramatically. Stiffness/tension can lead to an inconsistent or uneven swing plane. This is pretty widely accepted. I would also tend to think this could lead to a lot of "jerking". Which lends itself to flying open and the bat-head spending only a minimal amount of time in the zone. All things we have noticed about Moncada, no?

In an era where lower, relaxed hands and launch angles are all the hoopla -- I'm surprised no one has made that sort of a recommendation to Moncada pertaining to the top half of his swing. For instance, take the team we just finished a 4 game series with. The majority of those players have nearly identical starting points and triggers... or a version of that. Edwin gets a little bit longer, but that's to be expected with a pure power hitter. He still starts from a very similar point to Brantley, Lindor and others. They all look quite comfortable in the box and keep things relatively simple. They all do an excellent job of getting through the zone and optimizing their swing. 

I've always thought that Robby Cano would be an ideal template for Moncada to model after (minus the steroids, obviously). Similar body type, build, position... etc... He's a guy who couldn't be more relaxed and fluid in the box. He changed things up a little bit over the past couple of seasons, widened out his base a tad and probably got a bit longer with his swing than we'd like to see Moncada. Still, though ... The hands relaxed and at chest/shoulder height seems to be an adjustment that I certainly don't think can hurt Moncada -- given the way this past month has gone. It would definitely get him more relaxed and rhythmic in the box -- which has to be good. Right? Obviously, the current model is beginning to fail him. No?

[Jose Abreu]

I was glad upon seeing that this was a well thought out post rather than a "move him to left field" or "abandon switch hitting" or "he's a bust". I think the current approach may not be ideal but he also is still struggling to get back into sync from the hamstring injury, apparently. I'd give it a little more time before I think about tweaking it, I guess is what I'm saying 

[fathom]

Maybe back off the plate a bit?  He's getting hurt on inside fastballs that he thinks are balls.  

[Richie]

1 minute ago, fathom said:

Maybe back off the plate a bit?  He's getting hurt on inside fastballs that he thinks are balls.  

I'm always a proponent of keeping a good distance from the plate. Typically, you can cover more ground than you think. Especially when you have bat speed like Moncada -- he should trust his hands more.

He does get sawed off a bit and has a lot of called strikes on inside fastballs. Which he sort of moves out of the way from -- displaying (like you said) that he thinks are not very close to the zone. It may also help the problem of trying to jerk fastballs up and over the outer half of the zone as well. Which he so often fouls straight back, or completely pulls off of and misses. Those are pitches that he ideally should be driving. I bring up the hands because fouling those very "hittable" pitches back could also be caused by an inconsistent or jagged bat-head path. Relaxing/lowering could help him get through those pitches a bit better and with more consistency. 

I mean, none of us are qualified to give Yoan advice. I'm just kind of reporting on what I see -- maybe everyone in the organization would laugh at this advice. If that's the case, so be it. lol

[Richie]

18 minutes ago, Jose Abreu said:

I was glad upon seeing that this was a well thought out post rather than a "move him to left field" or "abandon switch hitting" or "he's a bust". I think the current approach may not be ideal but he also is still struggling to get back into sync from the hamstring injury, apparently. I'd give it a little more time before I think about tweaking it, I guess is what I'm saying 

I 100% agree that things were going pretty darn well prior to the hamstring injury in St. Louis. Which is why I have not pressed the panic button, in the least. Like some others here have done. A bad month is apart of what it is to be an MLB player. Especially for young players that don't quite feel "secure" yet and are still figuring themselves out. 

[BamaDoc]

Is this rust post injury, injury still effecting swing, and/or the inevitable eb and flow of pitchers/coaches seeing some vulnerability in his setup and approach?  We have seen him comment on adjusting to being to passive early in the count and consequently being constantly behind in the count.  Maybe he needs to adjust setup back a couple of inches to punish the inside fastball at which point they will go offspead away as the ballet of baseball that we love dances.

[Lillian]

Backing off the plate could work, providing that he is willing to take those pitches on the outside corner, to left field, rather than insisting on trying to pull them. That approach would also be a way to counter the shift.

Edited June 15, 2018 by Lillian