Since the All-Star break last year the Rockies have been struggling to find a rhythm at the plate. So far this year only 2 or 3 have hit the ball consistently. I have watched a few games over the course of the season so far and I am not seeing anything change with any of the players on the team. This begs the question, what does a hitting coach do?
At the end of last season the Rockies fired their hitting coach for the lack of performance down the stretch. This year the Rockies had a fantastic preseason and first month of the regular season, but since then haven't been able to hit the broad side of a barn with a bat. The new hitting coach hasn't yet been rumored to be in trouble of loosing his job, but what is he doing. Dexter Fowler has one of the worst batting stances I have ever seen. He holds the bat away from him at the plate and both elbows are extended away from his body. I see him swinging over a lot of pitches because his lead elbow is not being used to aim at the ball. It looks like he is just swinging recklessly when he should be swinging deliberately. Fowler needs to hold the bat closer to his body and pull his lead elbow to the ball. This way he will be able use his lead elbow as a guide for when he extends through the ball. This should allow for Fowler to make contact with the ball more often. So far I have seen no adjustments made by the hitting coach in Fowler at the plate.
Most of the teams stances are pretty poor. Todd Helton has the second worst but he does well with it so I will leave him alone. I see a lot of the Rockies using open stances which I feel leaves them vulnerable to being jammed on inside pitches. The players using the open stance generally take a step inside with their lead foot in order to be able to cover the outside of the plate. with undisciplined players this step will be taken before the pitch is thrown. This means that a batters momentum will be going towards an inside pitch leaving them little chance of solid contact. Batters' feet should be square to the plate along with the shoulders (a little open is ok). this allows the hitter to simply pick up their lead foot just a few inches at the begging of a pitch, and once determines where the ball is going, step in, out or straight ahead for optimal contact. Once again I have seen no changes in the stances of the open players.
Excessive pat movement is another thing that I feel is costing the Rockies. When you watch the Rockies at the play, more often than not you see a guy the is wiggling, flailing, or circling the bat in the air before the pitch is shown. I understand that a little bat movement can help with a players timing and rhythm but so of these guys are moving the bat way to much. Using a tiny circle pattern or a slight up and down tap on the shoulder is ok but I have seen several Rockies hold the bat high with a wide circle pattern to their pre-pitch ritual. This throws the weight of the bat around and can really affect a players control over where the bat head ends up. the bat should be relatively still as the pitch is being thrown so the body can simply react to where the ball is instead of also taking into consideration the constantly changing starting point of the swing. Knock off the nonsense and settle down at the plate. No player has changed their bat swinging to this point.
So, there are many different flaws that can be found just in the stances of players and so far there have been no changes in these players. What does the hitting coach do? I would think that he would work with struggling players to tweak their swings and change their bad habits. I know that he doesn't help them see the strike zone better, Cargo is the perfect example of that. I know that these guys are professionals and have made it to the big stage doing it the same way they always have, but for many of them it isn't working anymore. I'm not calling for the Rockies hitting coach's job, but if my job rested on the team's batting average I would be making sure their was evidence that I was at least trying something. So far, the evidence isn't there.
