Jump to content

2013 Spring Training catch all thread


southsider2k5

Recommended Posts

QUOTE (BlackJack @ Feb 22, 2013 -> 04:59 PM)
Mark Gonzales ‏@MDGonzales

 

Sox OF Jordan Danks right flexor strain, expected to miss only a few days.

 

 

I was searching to find out why young OF'ers were supposed to get chances because Jordan Danks was out. Thanks for posting this upcdate. What's the latest on his flexor problem?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 644
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

QUOTE (flavum @ Feb 23, 2013 -> 11:28 AM)
This was a picture of Conor Gillaspie's #12 jersey hanging in the Sox clubhouse. Posted by one of the clubhouse attendants.

 

He has removed it from his twitter.

 

Wow. I am kind of surprised the Sox let that happen right away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (flavum @ Feb 19, 2013 -> 10:58 PM)
Beckham looks like he's doing a little Cal Ripken-y thing with his bat before he swings.

 

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/video/play...18&c_id=cws

Long Merkin piece on Beckham's new stance

But Beckham now has a Cal Ripken-esque look at the start of his at-bat, with the bat flat over the shoulders before being moved straight up as the pitcher delivers. As Beckham tried to explain, it basically takes him more directly from Point A to Point B in the swing, eliminating an unnecessary middle stop.

 

There's more involved than just this tweak, though. Beckham put a great deal of work into his grip during the offseason months, per advice from the organization's higher-ups.

 

"It was an unusual situation where when we looked at him and thought, 'Where would we start first?' The unusual part is collectively, we said we would change his top hand," said White Sox hitting coach Jeff Manto of Beckham. "That's unheard of. He has such a strong grip, and like an overgrip, I guess. I don't know what you would call it on his top hand. I've never seen anything like this.

 

"That's what evolved. So, he changed that. We had mentioned to him pay attention to this, and he came back and it's great."

 

How he holds the bat in his hands actually has made a ton of difference in Beckham's mind. The minor changes, added on to the crouch, have brought about greater comfort.

 

"If I can go from A to B like that, that's good. If I go A to B to C, it's more work," said Beckham, as he continued to show off the important nuances of his swing. "I've basically kept the same stance and integrated that in.

 

"I think part of the reason there was a lot of inaccuracy sometimes last year is because there was one more step to get it through the zone. You are not able to be direct and drive balls. You are going to see a lot of balls [slice] and a lot of balls [hook]," said Beckham, using his hand to illustrate the wrong-way path of the baseball. "I just wanted to kind of eliminate that and become very direct with my hands, and that way I can really backspin in both the left-center and right-center gap."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"He has such a strong grip, and like an overgrip, I guess. I don't know what you would call it on his top hand. I've never seen anything like this."

 

In all seriousness, if that is the case, maybe Beckham should experiment switch hitting. Has he ever tried it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like him mentioning backspinning to left center and right center, especially right-center. For one thing, that's what he was doing when he came up his rookie year and he was awesome that year. Next, backspinning balls to those gaps is fun because it can be a difficult ball to read and results in a ton of doubles and triples (if not all out home runs). And finally, he will hit more home runs because getting that backspin on the ball keeps it in the air longer and more of them will carry out of the ballpark.

 

I obviously want to see him do it in the regular season, but I'm cautiously optimistic regarding Beckham this year.

 

QUOTE (southside_hitman @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 04:40 AM)
"He has such a strong grip, and like an overgrip, I guess. I don't know what you would call it on his top hand. I've never seen anything like this."

 

In all seriousness, if that is the case, maybe Beckham should experiment switch hitting. Has he ever tried it?

 

His right hand is his top hand. Switch hitting doesn't make any sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 08:14 AM)
I like him mentioning backspinning to left center and right center, especially right-center. For one thing, that's what he was doing when he came up his rookie year and he was awesome that year. Next, backspinning balls to those gaps is fun because it can be a difficult ball to read and results in a ton of doubles and triples (if not all out home runs). And finally, he will hit more home runs because getting that backspin on the ball keeps it in the air longer and more of them will carry out of the ballpark.

 

I obviously want to see him do it in the regular season, but I'm cautiously optimistic regarding Beckham this year.

 

 

 

His right hand is his top hand. Switch hitting doesn't make any sense.

Not to mention a 26 year old guy who has never batted left handed picking it up and becoming major league quality has about a 1 in a billion chance, if that, of being successful.

 

It's like asking a pitcher who blows out his shoulder to switch and start throwing with the other arm, maybe not quite that extreme, but the odds of success are nil.

Edited by Dick Allen
Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 08:21 AM)
Not to mention a 26 year old guy who has never batted left handed picking it up and becoming major league quality has about a 1 in a billion chance, if that, of being successful.

 

It's like asking a pitcher who blows out his shoulder to switch and start throwing with the other arm, maybe not quite that extreme, but the odds of success are nil.

 

Exactly. You would need about 2 hours of practice at it a day for a year to become even somewhat proficient at it, and a lot of times, it's pointless to even do it...Jose Valentin was constantly switching from switch hitting to solely hitting left handed because he was such a poor right handed hitter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (Jake @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 09:35 AM)
I can never decide if I should be pleased that Gordon is working on things or be afraid that he will fall into a never-ending cycle of tweak-induced slumps.

 

I want to see how he performs during the season, but this is far more than a tweak. It may fall back into tweaks, but this is a drastic change.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (southside_hitman @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 04:40 AM)
"He has such a strong grip, and like an overgrip, I guess. I don't know what you would call it on his top hand. I've never seen anything like this."

 

In all seriousness, if that is the case, maybe Beckham should experiment switch hitting. Has he ever tried it?

 

I dont think teaching a guy to hit from the other side of the plate 4 years into his professional career is such a good idea. It might be just me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (floridafan @ Feb 25, 2013 -> 07:25 AM)
When you grip the bat too tightly you slow down your hands, your ability to make late adjustments as well as your batspeed. A loose soft grip up until the bat is in the hitting zone is the feel a hitter should want. Relaxed.

 

That's not what he meant by "strong". It's a reference to position ala golf.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...