...any thoughts?
if they come home 1-9 on this road trip he better have his bags packed. HE is the ONLY hitting coach since "Mr Baseball Guy" Narron!!.. I want a guy that talks to these hitters DURING the game, not sit on the bench chewing sun flower seeds.. I want a clucth hitting .300 power hitter to be the batting coach like Kevin Mitchell or Dave Parker.. Enough of this unprepared team and the excuses we"we faced the other teams best pitchers and couldnt find a hole" Goodness.. Time for a wake up call on this team!! sucking on the road being the worst road team doesnt get you to the post season!!
Even as a Cardinals fan...if you guys don't light up Dan Haren today, yeah, this guy should have a seat that is warm and beginning to get hot.
I think hitting coaches are easy targets. Sure they help players work on their hitting but by the time players get to the majors their habits and skill sets aren't set in stone but they are very well engrained. For whatever reason the players the reds develop and choose to keep in the system are low plate discipline guys that have plus pop. This leads to tons of strikeouts or offensive outbursts and the situation that we have with their lineup now.
Lets look at it. Bruce. Plus power. Low discipline. One dimensional hitter
Frazier seems like a lesser version of Bruce.
Cozart. Plus pop for a SS but one dimensional pull hitter. When was the last time he went the other way?
Heisey. Lesser version on cozart with more pop.
Votto. I consider him an anomaly. His approach is unique and from what I've seen on him is more of his own creation than the reds system.
Mesoraco. Seems to be showing decent discipline this guest but last year seemed to fit the plus pop low discipline mold. Although I think he doesn't have enough PAs to make a full determination.
Even Bham our prospect that's supposed to be an on base guy and leadoff hitter has contact and K issues.
So it looks less like a a hitting coach issue to me and more like a development/personnel brought in issue
So I think the hitting coach can only do so much if the players he are given are of mostly one type. Undisciplined power guys. That's what the reds develop and it shows on the field. Hopefully with the addition of Choo and the draft of Winker it shows the reds are having a paradigm shift away from plus pop low discipline to more plate discipline and higher OBP.
Blaming the coach is the easy way to explain why a team's offense goes to sleep the way the Reds' have these past few games. But the truth is that there is never one reason why something like this happens. It's a combination of so many things (yes, maybe coaching is one of them), that you can never say "If they do this, the team will start hitting"
Also, blaming the coach lets the player off the hook. You can't get in the batter's box and swing for them, no matter how much coaching you do.
Good points, all. Problem is...you can't fire the players, but you can't keep the status quo either. So far today, Haren is keeping you contained and you're down 2-0. SOMEBODY has to fall on their sword for the team.
It has to be the approach. Why do they have success at home, but not on the road?
The teams and pitching they've faced at home has not been as good as the pitching they've faced on the road. When they were swept by Pittsburgh other than being shut down by Burnett they out runs on the board. Other than that you've had the cards and bats who have excellent pitching for the most part. Combine that with the GABP effect and there it is.
Thanks for input
I really don't have a good or bad opinion about him.
As long as he has been here I seem to know nothing about him which can be good or bad I guess. It just seems to me, besides Votto, who probably does not need a hitting instructor, we are not getting the best out of the talent we have offensively.
If the hitting coach has little to no effect on your hitting, why have a hitting coach?
They are there to make adjustments, not make wholesale changes. It could be the height of their hands, their stride, or how high they lift their front foot. They film, analyze and help critique. If you know anything about Vottos regime, he doesn't need a hitting coach, but he does need support.
I would like to hear what people think a Hitting Coach does on a day to day basis. I bet 90% have no idea.
I agree, but some earlier responses in this thread made it sound like the hitting coach can't do anything about the hitters. I think good hitting coaches and pitching coaches can have a very positive effect on the performances of the players. Bad ones can have negative or neutral effects.
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