GOOD JOB,LAST years bp.

Like I said,he needs to make adjustments in his swing,if you are paying attention,he is making them.He is basically in his 2nd year and has 20 homeruns and batting .269

I am done with this,check back in a few years.

Video of Ankiel's current swing is easy to access at MLB.com...

You either haven't seen it, or don't know the difference, or both....

I posted the question in another forum as well, but I noticed that Ankiel's bat was flatter before entering the zone in comparison to most of the other MLB player's swings. What is the advantage/disadvantage to having the bat horizontal vs. vertical?

I watch his GAMES,not a few video clips.

He has a shorter swing than before,not much but it is shorter,evidence is he has moved closer to the plate.

I would agree that if I were setting out to teach a young kid how to swing from scratch, Ankiel would probably not be my model.

But I also think that Akiel proves that there is more than one way to succeed, and not all MLB hitters succeed using the same swing techniques.

Quite often if a player is having success, the best thing you can do is LEAVE HIM ALONE, not mess with his head. So often, confidence and mental approach are more important to success vs. failure than swing mechanics.

The old saying that "the perfect is the enemy of the good" applies in this context. There are some who, if they were hired as the Cardinals' hitting coach effective today, would start today's BP by trying to monkey with Ankiel's swing so that it would meet their notion of what would be perfect. And when he started going into the toilet, they would only say, "I told you so, his swing was destined to fail."

That's absolutely true....But, it has nothing to do with what I'm saying....

I'm saying that his swing won't allow him to hit .300 over the course of a season.......

I agree with you blue and it seems he has fallen right back into his old habits and his BA is falling with it.

He was making some changes but it seems that his injuries have slowed his progress quite a bit.

quote:

I agree with you blue and it seems he has fallen right back into his old habits and his BA is falling with it.

Ankiel simply can't hit .300 over the long haul because of his swing mechanics....He will have bursts from facing subpar pitching, but, he will face enough decent pitching to keep him from doing it....

quote:

He was making some changes.....

No, he wasn't....His swing has always evidenced that he wasn't....Ankiel never did develop the upper and lower body separation that good hitters have to be able to make late swing adjustments...

Chameleon was all over this last season....He even put up a clip of why Ankiel couldn't do it....His swing stayed the same.....And, the results show this....

UMMM,OK

Per MLB.com, Ankiel's current stats are .264, 25 HR, 71 RBI, over 409 AB's.

He missed some time due to injury, plus the season is not complete. If you project those numbers out to, say, a 550 AB's season, they would be .264, 34 HR, 95 RBI.

Considering he doesn't hit in the plum RBI spots in the order, those are pretty impressive numbers.

Some of you guys are hard to please. The Albert Pujolses of the world are few and far between. Among ordinary mortals, Ankiel is an excellent hitter. Among his MLB peers, Ankiel is well above average.

Give me a lineup of 8/9 guys with numbers like those and we'll win it all!

Ankiel has what I call a 'shoulder hitch' in his swing. He raises his shoulders before his swing while the pitch is in flight.

This causes him to commit to a swing at the chosen location sooner than he would otherwise. The tendency most often would be a late swing because of a late decision due to the time needed to execute the swing.

Should he eliminate the hitch and 'load' with his shoulders already raised, he would probably hit for higher average.

quote:

Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
Per MLB.com, Ankiel's current stats are .264, 25 HR, 71 RBI, over 409 AB's.

He missed some time due to injury, plus the season is not complete. If you project those numbers out to, say, a 550 AB's season, they would be .264, 34 HR, 95 RBI.

Considering he doesn't hit in the plum RBI spots in the order, those are pretty impressive numbers.

Some of you guys are hard to please. The Albert Pujolses of the world are few and far between. Among ordinary mortals, Ankiel is an excellent hitter. Among his MLB peers, Ankiel is well above average.

Give me a lineup of 8/9 guys with numbers like those and we'll win it all!

He was in the .280's before the injury bug hit him.

Ankiel is in the major leagues and has the ability to hit 35 or more HRs a year, drive in 100 or more runs and hit above league average. There is no higher level!

All players/hitters can improve, but not many reach the level that Ankiel is at. Every so often, there comes a pitcher or hitter without excellent mechanics that can still perform at the highest level. Actually there are several of them!

Just goes to show that what goes on in the head might be even more important than what goes on with the body. Some are more “comfortable” (pitching or hitting) with something other than perfect mechanics.