Joel Sherman has a good column today about the development of Robinson Cano, who approached Alex Rodriguez for some advice after practice last month:
On a back diamond at George M. Steinbrenner Field, it was just Cano, A-Rod and batting practice pitcher Danillo Valiente. For 40 minutes, Rodriguez would create RBI scenarios such as second and third, one out. Cano would take 15 swings and then A-Rod would break down not just the mechanics, but — just as vital — the mindset.
Rodriguez felt–and Cano concurred–that the talented second baseman was too fixated on making contact, not impact. Stop feathering the ball to left-center, A-Rod lectured.
…”A-Rod kept telling me, ‘Stop trying to just put it in play,’ ” Cano said. “He saw that my swing got lazy in these situations. But it was more than the swing. He got me to realize I am going to come up three, four, five times a game with men on base, and have to be ready to do something.”
Very interesting. Kind of a 'Balls Up' statement. For a lot of guys, contact would be the goal, but I guess with a talent like Cano, impact is a better idea.
While I'm not sure I liked the situation last night, it was nice to see Girardi think out-of-the-box, and go with 'the hot hand', as opposed to musical Relievers. I would like to see that more often.
Well, I hope that when Cano finds himself 0 and 2, that he flips back to just putting the ball in play.
Hopefully A Rod is not passing on cherry-picking secrets
Yeah, not sure that's very good advice for a hitter like Cano. Certainly good advice to not change your swing, but stop going the other way seems like poor advice. Trying to pull everything is the fastest way for a left-hander to get in a slump.
[3] I know, it would be so upsetting if Cano learned how to get meaningless RBI. At least if he does, we'll know who to blame.
[4] i agree but so far cano's spray chart looks pretty good - lot of hard hit balls up the middle.
i think the feather into to left field is a concern that robinson just had emergency swings where he would get the bat on the ball and hit dribblers to the left side of the infield
Cano has a great ability to put the ball in play - on strikes AND balls. So concentrating on looking for a certain pitch to drive rather than simply putting any ball in play might be good advice. But I don't really know if Cano can execute that advice, since I've got to believe hitting coaches have been giving him similar advice for years.
Arod also seems to be saying, since you may get multiple chances to drive in runs within the same, don't sweat each individual at bat - take the macro view. 1 homer and 2 whiffs out of 3 trips is better than a pop out, ground out and fly out. But Cano is not Arod, so I'm not sure if this same logic carries all the way thru.
I don't think ARod was saying don't go the other way. I think he was saying to NOT be timid. To be more aggressive... to drive the ball.... as opposed to 'just' making contact.
“He saw that my swing got lazy in these situations"
If Cano says his swing was 'lazy', it verifies my point above.
It's the attitude that 'OH BOY.... men on base!" as opposed to "uk oh... men on base".
[1] Actually, I think impact over contact has been the overriding philosophy of the current baseball era. Strikeouts used to be stigmatized a lot more in the past, but many hitters don’t even consider shortening their swing with two strikes. Incidentally, I think that factor, more than any other, has contributed to the modern surge in power and offense.
[4] [8] I think OYF is right. It's one thing to drive the ball to the opposite field, and another to just feel for the ball. Judging by how Arod swings himself, I am sure he meant the former.
I'm not sure why going to left field and "making an impact" are mutually exclusive. It seems strange to recommend to a guy who can routinely hit the left-center field gap that he should try to avoid doing that.
I'm not sure what Alex means by "feathering the ball" or how that propensity is responsible for his failure to drive in runs. His failure to drive in runs isn't because he's trying to make contact, but because he doesn't have a plan, gets jumpy and expands the zone.
I suppose Alex knows more about hitting than I do, but on the face of it, I can't say his advice seems sound.
Hmmm...
Ok, reading your guys' comments, I sort of understand.
Gotta think on this...
If this is the case, I would want *Jeter* teaching Cano how to drive the ball the opposite way.
[10] His failure to drive in runs isn’t because he’s trying to make contact, but because he doesn’t have a plan, gets jumpy and expands the zone.
That's what it looks like to me too.
And yeah I questioned A Rod being the advice giver but on the other hand, last year was a great year for him, in terms of not necessarily having the gaudiest of stats but getting a lot of key hits. Cano on the other hand had a fine cherry-picking year; not on par with the finest of the Rod's but pretty fine.
A Rod was telling him to move runners up. I'm not surprised anymore how poor these guys
hit. They've learned in the cage. The cage doesn't help you judge where the ball will end up.
Cano grewup last year. Now he playing like a veteran. MOF, I was watching the 8th inning of
game 2 and Swisher tried all he could to move the runners. He was made at himself for not
doing it. NJ walk was no fluke because he knows where to put the ball and pitchers know
this too. I strongly believe Tex would more productive if wouldn't open up so soon.