First up in this chit-chat is the survival of vital traits. In the case of leadoff men, that pertains to the first of the three primary functions they're meant to abide by: getting on.
This is an area where leadoff men haven't changed that much over the last couple decades. I used Baseball-Reference. Here you've got peaks and valleys all over the place, but the trend lines are both almost exactly level. Today's leadoff hitters aren't drastically better or worse at hitting for average or getting on base than leadoff hitters from a couple decades ago.
And no, things don't look all that different if we narrow the focus to the numbers produced by the top leadoff men each year. If we take a look at the average BAs and OBPs of the guys who made at least plate appearances in the leadoff spot each year— for and for since those were strike years—we get pretty much the same thing. There's a slightly more notable rise in the trend line for batting average here, but it's minuscule.
And if the thought crossed your mind that it's odd that a slight increase in OBP didn't accompany that slight increase in batting average, well, there's a reason for that. Leadoff guys aren't drawing more walks than they used to. And recently, they've been striking out at an increasing rate, which isn't the least bit surprising given the fact that all hitters are striking out more these days. This, however, is not the worst thing in the world. Today's hitters may be whiffing more, but one trade-off is that they've become more consistent at finding the holes in the defense.
There's also the reality that strikeouts aren't as terrible as old-timey hitters believed them to be. It's obviously impossible to come up with a productive out on a strikeout, but generally they're no different from a ground ball to short or a pop-up to center.
They're all just outs. Also, strikeouts are hardly the worst possible outcome for leadoff hitters. A good leadoff hitter makes a pitcher work , and a battle that ends in a strikeout can be just as taxing for a pitcher as a battle that ends in a walk.
As such, neither the slight downward trend in walks nor the upward trend in strikeouts among leadoff men is very damaging. Their capacity for getting on base hasn't gotten worse, and the rise in strikeouts has allowed leadoff hitters to remain pesky in their own way. As for the weeding out of nonessential traits, there's one thing that leadoff hitters don't do quite as well as they used to: steal bases.
I am shortstop and second baseman sometimes third and I usually hit leadoff. I was having a pretty rough season in the batters box and I was moved to the bottom of the lineup for a lot of the season.
I got cut from my team due to the fact of my batting. I am working to get back on the team and I am asking for a few things I can do to work on my batting. Thanks in advance. Josh, I am happy to hear that you are still working hard. Without knowing too much about your swing I would work off a tee a lot and make sure you get many quality swings. I would then find some sort of pitching machine at a batting cage and try to work on your swing and everything you have been working on off the tee.
It will take some time but hopefully the good habits from the tee will transfer over to seeing some velocity off a machine before too long. Good luck and keep working hard. Just relax, it sound like your to agresseve at the plate. Slow down and keep a level swing and keep your eyes on the ball. If you practice enough the hits will come. I know you are supposed to know what kind of hitter you are but im a first baseman but I cant hit a HR.
I hit. All the first baseman in the big leagues do and I feel as a first baseman having the ability to hit for power is a necessity to play at that position in the MLB. You have defense, speed, baserunning awareness, and situational plays you need to worry about before you worry about jacking one over the fences. Would you rather have a guy who hits over 20 homers a year and bats.
You will be more successful driving the ball with hard groundballs and line-drives. You have plenty other stuff to worry about, like scooping balls from your shortstop who conveniently gets all the credit for flashing the leather.
Homeruns will come later. Trust yourself. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting. Accurately evaluating yourself to know what kind of hitter you are can be a difficult, but necessary, part of developing your personal hitting philosophy. The great thing about a baseball lineup is there is room on every team and in the big leagues for all types of hitters.
Understand Your Personal Hitting Philosophy A good hitting philosophy should definitely depend on what kind of hitter you are. Image by Frank Lauri. We can pretend we only wanna watch good games, or we can face facts.
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