He's struggled with his swing mechanics for a long while. I believe the loopiness of his swing makes it harder for him to hit fastballs. Right now, he's getting killed by fastballs. https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.asp...OF#pitchvalues
He's struggled with his swing mechanics for a long while. I believe the loopiness of his swing makes it harder for him to hit fastballs. Right now, he's getting killed by fastballs. https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.asp...OF#pitchvalues
http://www.providencejournal.com/spo...y-castillo.ece
This is what he had to say the last time his swing was broken:
Jackie Bradley, Jr. has heard the analysis about his swing. He has heard that it is broken, that it can’t succeed at the major-league level, that it needs to be shortened.
He is sick of hearing all this.
″‘Shorten the swing.’ I’ve heard that so many times. The swing is short when you make contact and long when you miss it,” he said. “This whole so-called ‘shorten the swing,’ it’s just talk, I feel like.”
It’s talk coming from outsiders and insiders alike. Most every Red Sox coach asked about Bradley’s swing mentions its length.
“He’s floating a little, a little late being on time with the front side, creating a long swing,” assistant hitting coach Victor Rodriguez said two weeks ago, when Bradley’s struggles were deepening.
“His swing at times can get a little lengthy,” manager John Farrell said then. “That’s what forces him to commit early to certain pitches.”
Minor-league hitting coordinator Tim Hyers, when asked Friday what might be different about Bradley’s swing now compared to when he was tearing up Double-A two years ago, pointed to its length.
“He probably has a swing maybe just a hair longer than he probably would want it to be,” said Hyers, who also spent considerable time with the major-league club this season when Greg Colbrunn was out sick. “He can come down here and shorten some things up and get back in a groove.”
Bradley isn’t quite buying all the criticism. He feels like his swing is “very similar if not the same as in the past,” and thus “there’s nothing saying that it can’t work.”
“I’m continuing to make adjustments and just doing it. Stop trying to make it so much more complicated than what it really is -- mechanical this, mechanical that,” Bradley said. “I’m getting back to just doing it, what I’ve always done my whole life and when I was successful. You don’t need to think. You don’t have time to think when you play this game. You just do it.”
“You’re just trying to help Jackie feel comfortable in the batter’s box,” said Hyers. “We know he has talent, we know he can hit. It’s just getting to that position consistently.”
Bradley said earlier this week that his confidence hasn’t flagged during this trying season and that it “will never waver as long as I’ve got breath in my body.” The line between self-confidence and stubbornness, though, can be thin.
This is, after all, the first time Bradley has endured a slump of this depth. He entered the system as a polished college hitter, and he experienced almost non-stop success until reaching the major leagues.
“You have to go through things,” Hyers said. “That’s the reason experience is a valuable commodity. You learn something about your swing each time you go out and compete. To me, the more he has experience, the more he plays, he’s learning about himself.”
Bradley is trying not to get bogged down by outside analysis of his swing.
“It’s so much easier to analyze it when it’s in slow motion. You stop, replay and pause it. I can see the same things, as well,” he said. “Outside voices or not, it’s just you as a person being able to tune it out regardless. I’m never one to blame anything or anybody or outside voices. I just focus on what I have to do in order to help the team.”
For the time being, he’s also ignoring the ramifications Boston’s imminent addition of outfielder Rusney Castillo will have on his future in the organization. The team’s aggressive pursuit of Castillo and long-term commitment -- through the 2020 season -- would almost certainly not have happened had Bradley performed better offensively this year.
With Castillo, Yoenis Cespedes, Allen Craig, Shane Victorino and Daniel Nava all on the roster as outfielders, there isn’t a lot of room for Bradley, who this time a season ago was one of the most prized prospects in the system.
“I’m not worried about it,” he said. “I’m worried about what I’ve got to take care of. That’s it.”
Has he thought at all about what the move says about his standing in the organization?
“I focus on what I can control. I lay the rest elsewhere. Them signing an outfielder, it’s not affecting me,” Bradley said. “Everyone has their own paths. You’ve got to run your own race. Sometimes if the race needs to be I guess altered, it just happens. I’m just going to focus on what I can control and let the chips fall where they may.”
JBJ never comes across as a guy who can take criticism well (see the Eck controversy). Interesting to note that his AAA hitting instructor in 2014 is his instructor again this year. Maybe there's tension between the two?
Bradley isn’t quite buying all the criticism. He feels like his swing is “very similar if not the same as in the past,” and thus “there’s nothing saying that it can’t work.”
This says it can't work: .165/.519/41
Playing the Orioles just as good as Demotion to Pawtucket or very close to it. haha Baltimore Pitchers are allowing Opposing Batters to hit .282, only KC (.283), is worse in entire Majors.
Last edited by OH FOY!; 05-21-2018 at 11:08 AM.
More on the Red Sox, who’d “likely want bullpen help and/or a prospect” in a trade for center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., Cafardo observes. Boston spurned teams’ interest in Bradley in the offseason and has since gotten off to one of the majors’ best starts, though the 28-year-old hasn’t contributed to that as much as expected. Bradley has posted an ugly .165/.267/.252 line in 146 trips to the plate, leading Alex Speier of the Boston Globe to wonder if the Red Sox could consider demoting him despite his $6.1MM salary when second baseman Dustin Pedroia comes off the disabled list soon. While it’s a long shot, Speier concedes, a Bradley-less Red Sox team would still feature the enviable outfield trio of Mookie Betts in right, Andrew Benintendi in center and J.D. Martinez in left.
If I'm Manager I'm playing him, at this point. I'd tell him, your going to sit against real tough Lefties. I'm sticking with you until All-Star break, then re-evaluate.
Take all the pressure off, him, and see if he responds. His best Month has been June, in his career, see if the case this year.
Again .240-.250 avg. I'm good.
Last edited by OH FOY!; 05-21-2018 at 11:31 AM.
That is incorrect. Past performance is a far better indicator of what a player will do in the future than some made up projection. How are his projections working out for you now? Its no longer a small sample size-this started at the end of August last year. It encompasses about 250 PAs between last Sept and this year, and his OPS is remarkably similar last year (.517) as this year. Its not a small sample size any more. Its not huge, but its significant. Furthermore, if you are watching him at the plate its very clear that he is lost up there. He cannot even hit fastballs thrown right down broadway. He has lost the ability to hit....it happens. He needs to be demoted until he can find an acceptable level of performance, if that ever happens.
Benni is no bargain against Lefties either.