Jackie Bradley, Jr. - Help

[IpswichSox]

Post-trade deadline, when we've officially punted on 2014, and Betts has already been called up, there's no reason to keep JBJ up in the majors and let him fail at this rate. Send him down, get him out of the spotlight and let him play everyday. To me it's not a confidence issue, or at least not solely. He's got a really big swing, too big, I think. Maybe with his big swing he'll be Pedrioa 2.0, but we haven't seen that yet. Regardless of his current approach and whether it should be modified, he's not helping himself being here. Release the pressure he's likely putting on himself. Send him down and let him figure out what kind of hitter he is.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Post-trade deadline, when we've officially punted on 2014, and Betts has already been called up, there's no reason to keep JBJ up in the majors and let him fail at this rate. Send him down, get him out of the spotlight and let him play everyday. To me it's not a confidence issue, or at least not solely. He's got a really big swing, too big, I think. Maybe with his big swing he'll be Pedrioa 2.0, but we haven't seen that yet. Regardless of his current approach and whether it should be modified, he's not helping himself being here. Release the pressure he's likely putting on himself. Send him down and let him figure out what kind of hitter he is.

One concern I can see. At least in the majors he gets punished for bad swings and sees major league stuff. Down in AAA he can probably hit just fine even with bad habits because the pitchers aren't good enough to exploit his weaknesses. Also being with the big league club means the big league coaches can work with him.

 

[Harry Hooper]

Tim Naehring went through an awful dry spell early in his career before emerging as a fine hitter.
 
 
Swings without conviction do nothing. I'd like to see more tophand throwing the bathead at the ball from JBJ. Send him to AAA to regather and tell him he'll be back up Sept. 1st.

 

[Cuzittt]

There is no reason to believe that JBJ will be going down to AAA until they can send him down WITHOUT utilizing an option. Even then... they may decide him being in the majors is more useful than being in AAA.

 

[threecy]

Tim Naehring went through an awful dry spell early in his career before emerging as a fine hitter.

Unless there's something we don't know about JBJ's health, I don't think this is a valid comparison.
Naehring had back surgery in 1991, a wrist injury in 1992, torn muscle in his shoulder in 1993, and an ankle injury in 1994.  He only had two poor seasons offensively, both of which could be considered SSS (55 ABs in 1991 and 186 ABs 1992).

 

[judyb]

There is no reason to believe that JBJ will be going down to AAA until they can send him down WITHOUT utilizing an option. Even then... they may decide him being in the majors is more useful than being in AAA.

But they could option him for less than 20 days without using an option, so if they did want to give him some AAA time, they could option him tomorrow and call him up Sept. 1 without having to worry about the 25 man roster or using an option.

 

[OttoC]

... Down in AAA he can probably hit just fine even with bad habits because the pitchers aren't good enough to exploit his weaknesses....

 
You mean like all those pitchers the Red Sox called up from Triple-A to take the places of those they traded? I can see teh future is bright.

 

[plnii]

I've been wondering if batting slumps are harder to break when the overall team offense sucks. I recall having a slump in high school and my team was rather bad so it would take 3 innings for the lineup to turn over. By the time I batted again, I was "cold" and there was a bit more pressure to end my slump then because I might not bat again. I'm curious if they've tried having him hit or take swings in between innings ala Manny (obviously harder since he's not a DH). 

 

[OttoC]

Out of 150 players in baseball with enough PA to qualify, Bradley has the 7th highest strikeout rate. Plus, he has the lowest SLG of anyone near him on the list. 
 
If you want to look at Bradley's K rate of 28.4%, you have to realize thats per plate appearance, not per AB (It would be higher per AB).  The average K% in the AL this year is 19.6% (via fan graphs).  
 
Strikeout rate is certainly not the most important thing in the world, but any attempt to claim Bradley doesn't strike out a lot is simply incorrect. 

 
Apples and oranges. I was talking specifically about his strikeouts as a manner of making outs; not his ability to get on base. And he does not make outs by strikeout at a rate horrendously more often than the average AL player this year. Does he get on base well? No.

 

[Cuzittt]

But they could option him for less than 20 days without using an option, so if they did want to give him some AAA time, they could option him tomorrow and call him up Sept. 1 without having to worry about the 25 man roster or using an option.

Wasn't positive of the time. I think if they are to demote him it will come then.

 

[JimD]

He may not have started yesterday's game if everyone wasn't so gassed from the 19-inning affair on Saturday night.  It seems that the team has a plan to get him extra work with the coaches and limiting his starts while they work on fixing what is wrong.  The potential upside of having an acceptable ML bat to go with his otherworldly defense makes it a no-brainer to keep him at the major league level for the rest of the season, IMO.

 

[radsoxfan]

 
Apples and oranges. I was talking specifically about his strikeouts as a manner of making outs; not his ability to get on base. And he does not make outs by strikeout at a rate horrendously more often than the average AL player this year. Does he get on base well? No.

 
When people want to talk about strikeout rate, they usually want to answer the question "when someone goes up to the plate, what are the chances that he will strike out?". The answer for JBJ is 28.4%, and this is very bad.
 
If you want to use at bats for some reason and compare to the number you calculated (21.8%), then JBJ strikes out in 32.2% of his at bats. This is also very bad.  
 
If for some reason you want to know just which percentage of Bradley's outs are strikeouts, his number is 40.8%. The AL average is 29.7% this season.

 

[Drek717]

 

 
You mean like all those pitchers the Red Sox called up from Triple-A to take the places of those they traded? I can see teh future is bright.

There is a reason why Pawtucket is 68 and 54 (2nd best record in the entire IL, two behind in the loss column from Syracuse) while Portland is 75 and 47 (best record in the EL by 2 games).  This despite a mass upward movement of talent from AAA to ML and AA to AAA.  The Sox have more good young pitchers at AA and AAA than pretty much anyone else.

 
I think the value in sending Bradley back to AAA is more as a litmus test as to just what exactly has him so screwed up.  Is it something specific to MLB (superior scouting, fewer mistakes pitches to feast on, different strike zone, etc.) or has he just completely lost himself at the plate?  Giving him 2-3 weeks of regular AAA at bats should give a clear indication one way or the other.  If he goes down and rakes out of the gate it's an ML transition problem.  If he goes down and looks just as lost it's something else entirely.

 

[Harry Hooper]

Unless there's something we don't know about JBJ's health, I don't think this is a valid comparison.
Naehring had back surgery in 1991, a wrist injury in 1992, torn muscle in his shoulder in 1993, and an ankle injury in 1994.  He only had two poor seasons offensively, both of which could be considered SSS (55 ABs in 1991 and 186 ABs 1992).

 
Sorry, I only mentioned it because of the reference to the Aparicio slump above. Other Sox dry spells of note would include George Scott having a horrendous skein (2-for-72?) at the end of his career.

 

[Al Zarilla]

Has a player ever been given so many different varieties of excuses, or reasons for not cutting it than JBJ? 
 
Scuba Steve Avery kind of went the other way showing GIFs of JBJ hitting the hell out of the ball with the toe tap. 

 

[Buzzkill Pauley]

Has a player ever been given so many different varieties of excuses, or reasons for not cutting it than JBJ? 
 
Scuba Steve Avery kind of went the other way showing GIFs of JBJ hitting the hell out of the ball with the toe tap. 

 
SSA's linked video is obviously a "best of" compilation, but it's really distressing to watch him clean out the inside pitch, club the low pitch over the fence, and slap the outside pitch the other way....when he doesn't look remotely capable of any of that at the MLB level right now.
 
At this point, it seems primarily a mental thing for him, where "slowing the game down" has translated into "reacting in slow motion" at the plate.  And even when he has hit the ball hard -- like the Game 2 8th inning liner that ended up doubling off Napoli at 1B -- he isn't getting results.

 

[HriniakPosterChild]

Listened to the game in the car today and I can't that I remember so many people openly pulling for a guy who's just been absolutely horrible.  

I do. Tony Clark.

You don't want the radio guys saying this about you when you step into the batter's box: "There's not a finer Christian man in baseball."

 

[joe dokes]

Didn't John Valentin go through a 2 for 100 one year?
 
And I found this interesting in a macabre-baseball sense.
 
http://www.sbnation.com/2011/8/2/2339954/craig-counsell-hitless-streak-milwaukee-brewers

 

[Drek717]

 
SSA's linked video is obviously a "best of" compilation, but it's really distressing to watch him clean out the inside pitch, club the low pitch over the fence, and slap the outside pitch the other way....when he doesn't look remotely capable of any of that at the MLB level right now.
 
At this point, it seems primarily a mental thing for him, where "slowing the game down" has translated into "reacting in slow motion" at the plate.  And even when he has hit the ball hard -- like the Game 2 8th inning liner that ended up doubling off Napoli at 1B -- he isn't getting results.

Anyone suggest that he hit bottle caps with broom handles to him yet?  I mean, there's got to be a reason for anecdotal tales about every HoF hitter ever doing it, right?
 
All joking aside, this post really does basically sum the frustration of Bradley at the late this year completely.  All through the minors he did everything very well if nothing truly exceptional.  Now in the majors he can't do anything even a little.

 

[Reverend]

There is a reason why Pawtucket is 68 and 54 (2nd best record in the entire IL, two behind in the loss column from Syracuse) while Portland is 75 and 47 (best record in the EL by 2 games).  This despite a mass upward movement of talent from AAA to ML and AA to AAA.  The Sox have more good young pitchers at AA and AAA than pretty much anyone else.
 
I think the value in sending Bradley back to AAA is more as a litmus test as to just what exactly has him so screwed up.  Is it something specific to MLB (superior scouting, fewer mistakes pitches to feast on, different strike zone, etc.) or has he just completely lost himself at the plate?  Giving him 2-3 weeks of regular AAA at bats should give a clear indication one way or the other.  If he goes down and rakes out of the gate it's an ML transition problem.  If he goes down and looks just as lost it's something else entirely.

 

SSA's linked video is obviously a "best of" compilation, but it's really distressing to watch him clean out the inside pitch, club the low pitch over the fence, and slap the outside pitch the other way....when he doesn't look remotely capable of any of that at the MLB level right now.
 
At this point, it seems primarily a mental thing for him, where "slowing the game down" has translated into "reacting in slow motion" at the plate.  And even when he has hit the ball hard -- like the Game 2 8th inning liner that ended up doubling off Napoli at 1B -- he isn't getting results.

 
Thing is, have you all seen that commercial with Pedroia where they ask him how to hit the slider, and he says he doesn't, his secret is to never miss the fastball?
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmg0lXJN1CQ
 
JBJ is currently getting beaten by fastballs. Middle middle fastballs even. Before it might have been a matter of not being able to handle advanced breaking stuff or having a hole in his zone like WMB, but more recent returns suggest something way worse with respect to whatever is wrong.

 

[nvalvo]

Anyone suggest that he hit bottle caps with broom handles to him yet?  I mean, there's got to be a reason for anecdotal tales about every HoF hitter ever doing it, right?
 
All joking aside, this post really does basically sum the frustration of Bradley at the late this year completely.  All through the minors he did everything very well if nothing truly exceptional.  Now in the majors he can't do anything even a little.

 
Nothing exceptional? Except for the defense and the minor league OBP around .400, sure. There was a reason this guy was a top-50 prospect. 

 

[Devizier]

Bradley's minor league numbers are good, but let's not get him confused with Chris Davis. There have been plenty of outfielders who put up minor league numbers like Bradley's. I wasn't expecting too much from him (offensively) this year, just something like what Steamer had projected for him (250/320/380). Even by that relatively low bar, he's been a bit disappointing, but less so for me than for others.

 

[DJnVa]

 
JBJ is currently getting beaten by fastballs. Middle middle fastballs even. Before it might have been a matter of not being able to handle advanced breaking stuff or having a hole in his zone like WMB, but more recent returns suggest something way worse with respect to whatever is wrong.

 
Per b-ref, Bradley in his career, is hitting .092/.216/.132 against power pitchers with an OPS of .348. His OPS against average and finesse pitchers are both above .600. Not good, but passable. I don't know how the league as a whole does with power pitchers versus other types (generally hit better?) but if he can't work on that, it's not going to matter.

 

[TomRicardo]

Has a player ever been given so many different varieties of excuses, or reasons for not cutting it than JBJ? 
 
Scuba Steve Avery kind of went the other way showing GIFs of JBJ hitting the hell out of the ball with the toe tap. 

 
Here is the thing.  JBJ hit in the minors and is incredibly good on the field.  There is no reason for him to be this bad.  

 

[joe dokes]

 
Per b-ref, Bradley in his career, is hitting .092/.216/.132 against power pitchers with an OPS of .348. His OPS against average and finesse pitchers are both above .600. Not good, but passable. I don't know how the league as a whole does with power pitchers versus other types (generally hit better?) but if he can't work on that, it's not going to matter.

 
I am not a hitting coach . . . . but that sounds like its exactly the opposite of Pedroia's commercial. It's like he's looking off-speed, and thus has no chance on the fastball.

 

[Al Zarilla]

 
Here is the thing.  JBJ hit in the minors and is incredibly good on the field.  There is no reason for him to be this bad.  

I'm searching as much as anyone here (as if I could do anything if I spotted something). It is baffling. Looking at SSA's Bradley hitting with authority in the minors collage again, Bradley has the uppercut, loopy swing in those as well as the toe tap, and he's killing it. Latest I heard is they're trying to get him to keep the bat level, or flatter through the hitting zone. Maybe a good idea but that would go against what he said in that article about doing it his way. Baffling, again. 

 

[Cellar-Door]

 
Here is the thing.  JBJ hit in the minors and is incredibly good on the field.  There is no reason for him to be this bad.  

His fielding has nothing to do with his hitting.
 
As to whether there is a reason, sure there is. The pitching in the majors is better than the minors. I don't think he should be quite this bad, but if his swing has issues major league pitchers are more capable as a group of exploiting that than minor league pitchers.
 
Edit- I'm not saying I think he'll be this bad going forward, just noting that certain things you can do at AA and AAA you can't in the majors, there is a difference in the talent pool and in consistency such that minor league performance doesn't always translate to the majors the way we think it should.

 

[TomRicardo]

His fielding has nothing to do with his hitting.
 
As to whether there is a reason, sure there is. The pitching in the majors is better than the minors. I don't think he should be quite this bad, but if his swing has issues major league pitchers are more capable as a group of exploiting that than minor league pitchers.

 
His fielding is why he gets so much rope

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

I'm searching as much as anyone here (as if I could do anything if I spotted something). It is baffling. Looking at SSA's Bradley hitting with authority in the minors collage again, Bradley has the uppercut, loopy swing in those as well as the toe tap, and he's killing it. Latest I heard is they're trying to get him to keep the bat level, or flatter through the hitting zone. Maybe a good idea but that would go against what he said in that article about doing it his way. Baffling, again. 

 
What I'm not seeing in SSA's gifs is a hitch.  During the ESPN game where Kruk was analyzing his swing, JBJ had both the toe tap and then a hitch before he got the bat moving forward.  In the gifs, as he's tapping the toe, he's loaded and ready to swing.  It looks smooth as the tap is essentially a soft step to trigger the swing.
 
Against the Yankees, the tap looked entirely disconnected from the rest of his swing and the hitch was really herky-jerky.  By the time he was in the process of getting the bat moving, the ball was by him...every single time.

 

[Van Everyman]

Yes – tho the kid has also handled this with a ton of poise. Edes:

Bradley's uncommon maturity is one reason the Sox have stuck with him throughout his struggles.

"I'm still the same person,'' he said. "I'm definitely not going to let these struggles affect me. One day I'm going to look back on this and say I'm glad I went through that. Anybody who struggles even a little bit can come to me. 'Let me help you.' I struggled more than a little bit, and I'm going to get through it.''

http://m.espn.go.com/general/story?storyId=11333649&city=boston&src=desktop&rand=ref~%7B%22ref%22%3A%22http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FBxOh1XNO5H%22%7D

Personally, and not that this counts for much on the field, but the dude handles a post-game interview as well as any veteran I've ever seen. If he can figure it out with his bat, I think the team sees him as someone who can handle the pressures of Boston.

As it is, I think they probably see him as the Anti-Doubront – a guy who is a great example for the kids in terms of how you carry yourself on and off the field and don't sulk no matter how hard things get.

 

[mt8thsw9th]

Bradley's minor league numbers are good, but let's not get him confused with Chris Davis.

 
When trying to talk down someone who has underperformed his minor league OPS by .295 over his first 474 plate appearances, it's probably not best to invoke someone who had an OPS .221 under his minor league league line over his first 1082 appearances. And Bradley didn't have the same chance Davis did to inflate his minor league numbers by playing in the California League, Texas League, and Pacific Coast League, so that minor league OPS for Davis may be inflated a bit. 

 

[ScubaSteveAvery]

 
Good observation.  Here's a swing from the Yankees series last week:
 

jbj3.gif
 
And last night:
 

jbj2.gif
 
No more toe tap and "double hitch", as Kruk called it.  Hopefully he sticks with the simplified mechanics and they work out for him. 

 
 

 
What I'm not seeing in SSA's gifs is a hitch.  During the ESPN game where Kruk was analyzing his swing, JBJ had both the toe tap and then a hitch before he got the bat moving forward.  In the gifs, as he's tapping the toe, he's loaded and ready to swing.  It looks smooth as the tap is essentially a soft step to trigger the swing.
 
Against the Yankees, the tap looked entirely disconnected from the rest of his swing and the hitch was really herky-jerky.  By the time he was in the process of getting the bat moving, the ball was by him...every single time.

 
I think the top tap/hitch is more pronounced this time than at any time during the minors.  But I think the 'hitch' is mainly a timing issue. The gifs I posted were just to show that the tap has always been there. However, it seems like the team is trying to get him to drop the toe tap all together since it has created a timing problem for him. The second gif that Madmartigan posted shows a tap-less swing with a higher leg kick.  
 
I'm just spitballing here, but I think that the quality and speed of MLB fastballs and breaking balls have caused the toe-tap timing to fall apart for Bradley Jr.  And instead of focusing on him getting his timing back, the team is attempting to streamline his swing by removing the toe tap component.  

 

[joe dokes]

Radio guys just mentioned Cesar Geronimo. Although he occasionally hit slightly bettter than I remember, he'd be a nice target comp. He and Garry MNaddox were the two best CFs my teen eyeballs ever saw. (And Geronimo had the only (-5) arm I ever saw in the 5 years I played Strat-o-Matic).

 

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

As to the thread title, this article - http://bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox_mlb/boston_red_sox/2014/08/self_reliance_suits_jackie_bradley_jr - hints at the number and volume of help that has been offeredd Bradley. For instance:

He was taking early work in the cage. He was fielding calls from Hall of Famers Rod Carew and Joe Morgan wanting to help. He was starting games from the bench in order for the lessons and the work to sink in. His sparkling defense never suffered, but at the plate, he was.

Finally, Bradley figured out he was going to have to do more than listen.

“Getting back to what’s comfortable to me — not really ‘try this, try that’ — going back to my college days, what was feeling good to me when I was going well, sticking with that and refining that, stepping it up, trying out things. I just want to get back to being comfortable,” he said. “Sometimes you’ve got to get rid of all that clutter. You have a lot of people who want to help you and want great things to happen for you, but some of that stuff you’ve got to slide it to the side.

“If anybody knows who you are, it’s yourself. That’s what I’m learning more about each day of the season, I’m learning myself more than anything.”

Bradley said after the first two weeks of last year, when he hit .097 in his first 12 big league games and got demoted, he got away from what worked.

“That’s when the tinkering started,” said Bradley, referring back to his thoughts then. “Now, I’m going to be open-minded because I am struggling. Maybe they see something I’m not seeing. They have different eyes . . . I didn’t want to seem to be like the rookie who knew it all. You never do. You want to be willing to try things, work through them, see how it feels for you. It feels good or maybe it doesn’t.”

Bradley may have been too open about getting help.

“Apparently I have to get better with my communication with them because I never really had to communicate to any helpers, I just listened,” said Bradley. “I came to the realization, ‘I have to do what’s comfortable for me.’ At the end of the day, it’s my career. I’m the one who goes up there, I’ve got to be able to produce for the team. Focusing on that is top priority.

“When you’re up at the plate, I’m not thinking about what we just did in the cage, I’m just going up there and I’m competing. You’re not going to get me out,” he said. “I’m not thinking I have to have my hands like this, my feet like this. I’m just trying to have timing, rhythm and put a good swing on the ball.”

I just hope he figures it out.