Jay Bruce to play a month of Winter Ball

[JayBruceFan]

Good Idea?

Bad Idea?

[RedLegsToday]

Good idea. It should be low pressure for him and he can go and refigure out how to hit.

[Ghosts of 1990]

I posted this a while back fellas.

http://www.redszone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78041

Just sayin

[Lockdwn11]

I think it a great idea Jay needs the work to get his swing back to that it was.

[demas863]

That first week or two last year when he came up and hit every fast ball on the planet spoiled him. He appears to be so anxious to get back to that point that he swings at everything that comes near the plate. The down-and-in slider and the high-and away-fastball are his nemesis. His swing is not his problem. It's his lack of patience even when he does get ahead in the count. He's been told about this ad nauseum - even by Mike Schmidt who advised (and I perhaps paraphrase) "Let the game come to you. Don't chase it." Dusty and his coaches must be tearing their hair out. It's very likely that he'll eventually get it but the longer he fails to adjust the more uncertainty there is that he will reach his potential. The "slump" has lasted a long, long time. Winter ball for a month or so sounds like a good idea provided he turns things around. A winter of monster-mashing will only make him even more impatient and possibly unteachable come spring training.

[Lockdwn11]

Originally Posted by demas863

That first week or two last year when he came up and hit every fast ball on the planet spoiled him. He appears to be so anxious to get back to that point that he swings at everything that comes near the plate. The down-and-in slider and the high-and away-fastball are his nemesis. His swing is not his problem. It's his lack of patience even when he does get ahead in the count. He's been told about this ad nauseum - even by Mike Schmidt who advised (and I perhaps paraphrase) "Let the game come to you. Don't chase it." Dusty and his coaches must be tearing their hair out. It's very likely that he'll eventually get it but the longer he fails to adjust the more uncertainty there is that he will reach his potential. The "slump" has lasted a long, long time. Winter ball for a month or so sounds like a good idea provided he turns things around. A winter of monster-mashing will only make him even more impatient and possibly unteachable come spring training.

I agree that his lack of patience is part of the problem but if you look at his swing it has become longer than it was and he needs to get it back to the way it was when he came up.

[RoundingThird]

I think it's a great idea for him to play winter ball. The way I understand, it only last for about 1 month, so he still should be fresh by the time spring training starts. Maybe this will be a time when Jay can get some things worked out with his stroke. I saw in an interview the other day where he said he wanted to be a "hitter" and not a "slugger", and I think that is a very positive attitude. The home runs will come if he just focuses on making solid contact and hitting the ball hard.

[Kingspoint]

Lord knows, he needs it.

[goreds2]

Sorry off topic but I hope Cueto cuts down on winter play this year so he does not get the tired arm in the second half.

[DaytonFlyer]

Bruce needs all the ABs he can get to learn his new swing and learn patience.

I'm still pretty optimistic about him, especially watching those 2 HR's last night.

[Ghosts of 1990]

Looks like he did when he first came up. They said on baseball tonight last night "Bruce and Votto will lead that offense next year"

[PhillipsHead]

Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuce!!!!!!!!

[RoundingThird]

Great idea, it should be a good time to catch up on the AB's he missed out on this season, and hopefully get some things worked out. I have to say that I think he looks better since he came off the DL.

[Ghosts of 1990]

This thread is obsolete