Coaching impact on hitting

[Square one]

I have read many posts over last few years regarding the need to trade this player for this player in order to upgrade our offensive production. My question is at what point is the hitting and offensive coaching strategies challenged by management. Being in leadership and determining what or where a problem is takes strong problem resolution and and an ability to solve the needed gap in order to move toward a desired goal. I just don't see this management along with coaching staff making adjustments conducive to getting the most out of our hitters. Realizing they are professional ball players and certainly own their own development as well, however how many players not named votto have regressed as hitters or never lived up to their potential prospect, or continue to display same tendencies year after year. Good coaching and leadership should be able to utilize practice and off season to correct poor tendencies, but each season I find myself watching the same players strike out too much, or not adjust their plate approach depending on count, or not use all fields, the list goes on. It's time for management to stop leading old school and find coaching talent to drive these players abilities in the majors regardless of old relationships

[kfm]

A hitting coach cannot fundamentally change what a guy is. They can tinker with a guys mechanics or try to relax a guy, but they can't make a guy who can't make contact suddenly make contact. The reds are a too right handed offense with guys who strikeout too much. No hitting coach or manager is going to change that. If you have ever spent time coaching at any level of competition, the reality is you can teach and remind guys of things until you are blue in the face, but if a player can't do something they just can't and there is nothing that will change that.

[smixsell]

Yes and no. There is much truth to what you say. However, the OP is saying that our current manager and hitting coach are not helping our young hitters mature and improve as they otherwise might, and on that I wholeheartedly agree. Instead many of our young hitters are regressing due to (IMO) our coaching staff's flawed approach to hitting and it's instruction.

[joshua]

Stubbs comments about refusing to change his approach this spring really irked me.

[smixsell]

I must have missed it, but if ther's one player who NEEDS to change his approach it's Stubbs.

Genrerally, struggling young hitters should focus on successfully making good contact consistently FIRST, and wory about power/slugging only after they've been able to succeed at becoming decent contact hitters. And Stubbs, especially with his speed, needs to learn to HIT consistently first, and then worry about extra base hit and HR production later.

PS I suspect that Crusty and Jacoby's "slugger's mentality" is helping to keep Stubbs from realizing this.

[kfm]

I must have missed it, but if ther's one player who NEEDS to change his approach it's Stubbs.

Genrerally, struggling young hitters should focus on successfully making good contact consistently FIRST, and wory about power/slugging only after they've been able to succeed at becoming decent contact hitters. And Stubbs, especially with his speed, needs to learn to HIT consistently first, and then worry about extra base hit and HR production later.

PS I suspect that Crusty and Jacoby's "slugger's mentality" is helping to keep Stubbs from realizing this.

To accept this perspective I would have to ignore stubb's college and minor league numbers. Stubbs has been the same type of hitter since he was at Texas. In fact when he was drafted, the comments I heard about him were whether he would make enough contact in the majors. The reality is that Stubbs has both poor pitch recognition and contact skills. I understand no one likes dusty or the hitting coach, but to blame them, when it come to Stubbs is to argue that they alone are to blame for what both Stubbs college and minor league coaches could not fix.