On The Athletic (worth the subscription) Gammons talks about the way the organization approaches hitting, especially the 2 hitting coaches and "Professor" JD Martinez.
The team is trying to spread this approach throughout the minor league system, the way they did with pitching last year:
The coaches love Dalbec's power:
Exciting stuff, in the eternal optimism of spring. It's great that the organization is taking both the pitching and now the hitting philosophy and spreading them throughout the farm system. It's like the modern, Red Sox version of the old "Oriole Way" that Baltimore taught all their minor leaguers when Earl Weaver was the manager.
It seems to me that the organization believes that with their philosophies, they can develop some of the their minor league players into big league contributors, even if they aren't necessarily viewed as top prospects elsewhere. As well as helping the current big leaguers maintain and improve.
I hope they are right about that, as filling needs with cheap internal solutions would be a huge help in keeping the core together and hopefully maintaining the winning beyond the next year or two.
"...now that Tim Hyers and Andy Barkett are in their second season as the major league hitting coaches — each out of the Robert Van Scoloc-Craig Wallenbrock school, from whence Professor J.D. Martinez graduated — the Red Sox have evolved in their organizational hitting philosophy to become the 21st-century version of Ted Williams’ “The Science of Hitting, Revisited.”
They preach a lessened leg kick. “The velocity today is so great, it’s difficult to get the consistent timing necessary to establish the base.” They teach a solid foot base, with the feet driving the legs and, instead of rotating the feet, driving into the natural turn in the hips that leads to the hands and, as Martinez likes to explain, “following the ball off the bat.” They want to allow pitches to get deep, the hands getting behind the ball.
Martinez is their essential model. Every batting practice swing is taken seriously. He acknowledges, “I am a great believer in preparation,” meaning online, video scouting, visualization. Other players see how J.D. and Betts prepare together, videotaping every BP swing while making it clear to other players that they will welcome them into their group and their indoor hitting cage work programs."
They preach a lessened leg kick. “The velocity today is so great, it’s difficult to get the consistent timing necessary to establish the base.” They teach a solid foot base, with the feet driving the legs and, instead of rotating the feet, driving into the natural turn in the hips that leads to the hands and, as Martinez likes to explain, “following the ball off the bat.” They want to allow pitches to get deep, the hands getting behind the ball.
Martinez is their essential model. Every batting practice swing is taken seriously. He acknowledges, “I am a great believer in preparation,” meaning online, video scouting, visualization. Other players see how J.D. and Betts prepare together, videotaping every BP swing while making it clear to other players that they will welcome them into their group and their indoor hitting cage work programs."
The team is trying to spread this approach throughout the minor league system, the way they did with pitching last year:
"This winter, Cora’s initiative was resoundingly accepted through the entire organization. The pitching programs of Dana Levangie and Brian Bannister had already adapted, with veteran coaches and instructors mixed with David Bush and Shawn Haviland, schooled in the tools pioneered by pitchers like Bannister and Dan Haren (Arizona), who try to integrate tradition and modern practices.
Now the organization is trying to teach the same philosophies on every level. In January, they brought all their hitting coaches in to Fort Myers for a week, everyone from Hyers and Barkett to their minor league co-workers, from Rich Gedman to Lee May to Greg Norton and Nate Spears as well as Dwight Evans (a former Colorado hitting coach), all invested in their philosophies."
After the World Series, Jackie Bradley visited Wollenbrock to keep working on his swing, trying to maintain his strong second half.Now the organization is trying to teach the same philosophies on every level. In January, they brought all their hitting coaches in to Fort Myers for a week, everyone from Hyers and Barkett to their minor league co-workers, from Rich Gedman to Lee May to Greg Norton and Nate Spears as well as Dwight Evans (a former Colorado hitting coach), all invested in their philosophies."
"Hitting coaches told me to watch his BP sessions. Every swing in the 20-something sessions viewed was precisely the same, with the balance in his feet, little leg lift, his hips working in sync, no changes. The first swing he took in a game? Gone. “I have no idea how many swings I’ve taken since I started this process,” he says. “I am going to make it work. No more changes.”
The coaches love Dalbec's power:
“Dalbec’s natural power is sick, maybe greater than any I’ve ever seen,” says Hyers. The 6-4, 230-pound Dalbec, who also pitched for Arizona in college, is a good defensive third baseman with a big arm. The power has always been there, and if you watch his BP you see backspin power that no one has matched in a Boston spring training in 40 years. He led the Cape League in homers in 2015. He has hit 52 homers in 248 minor league games. But he has also struck out 341 times in 888 at-bats...
Hyers says he occasionally falls back to his old habit of leaning on his back leg to try to lift balls, but those moments are few and far between. “I never see him have a bad BP, his habits, his learning skills are really good,” says Evans. “I think his approach is going to pay off in a big way. He has a chance to be a star.”
As last season progressed, Dalbec got increasingly consistent in hitting the ball in the middle of the field. “He doesn’t have to try to hit for power,” says Hyers. “If he hits it in the middle of the field, it’s got unbelievable spin and carry.”
“He now hits the ball from right-center to left-center,” says Barkett. “In the opening game (albeit against Northeastern University) he missed a pitch and still hit it over the batter’s eye in center field.” There was a comp to Troy Glaus. Two to Pat Burrell. “Even if he turns out to be Mark Reynolds,” says one of their coaches, “that’s a useful player. Right now, I’m betting on the ceiling. The more he gets used to the routine he’s in with the major leaguers, the less he’s going to go back to the minors and get into a bad streak because he loses confidence, makes changes and starts striking out. He’s learning how to take a consistent approach to work every day.”
Hyers says he occasionally falls back to his old habit of leaning on his back leg to try to lift balls, but those moments are few and far between. “I never see him have a bad BP, his habits, his learning skills are really good,” says Evans. “I think his approach is going to pay off in a big way. He has a chance to be a star.”
As last season progressed, Dalbec got increasingly consistent in hitting the ball in the middle of the field. “He doesn’t have to try to hit for power,” says Hyers. “If he hits it in the middle of the field, it’s got unbelievable spin and carry.”
“He now hits the ball from right-center to left-center,” says Barkett. “In the opening game (albeit against Northeastern University) he missed a pitch and still hit it over the batter’s eye in center field.” There was a comp to Troy Glaus. Two to Pat Burrell. “Even if he turns out to be Mark Reynolds,” says one of their coaches, “that’s a useful player. Right now, I’m betting on the ceiling. The more he gets used to the routine he’s in with the major leaguers, the less he’s going to go back to the minors and get into a bad streak because he loses confidence, makes changes and starts striking out. He’s learning how to take a consistent approach to work every day.”
Exciting stuff, in the eternal optimism of spring. It's great that the organization is taking both the pitching and now the hitting philosophy and spreading them throughout the farm system. It's like the modern, Red Sox version of the old "Oriole Way" that Baltimore taught all their minor leaguers when Earl Weaver was the manager.
It seems to me that the organization believes that with their philosophies, they can develop some of the their minor league players into big league contributors, even if they aren't necessarily viewed as top prospects elsewhere. As well as helping the current big leaguers maintain and improve.
I hope they are right about that, as filling needs with cheap internal solutions would be a huge help in keeping the core together and hopefully maintaining the winning beyond the next year or two.