Spring training is meant for players to get back into the "swing" of baseball.
No one has had more attention on his swing than Jason Heyward. He spent the off-season changing his 2016 swing into a better, less rocking, more stable thus reliable stroke.
But he is only hitting .132 in camp. He has 6 RBIs but only 5 base hits. He continues to pull grounders to second base. His set up may be different, but the result is the same.
Joe Maddon spoke with ESPN Chicago about Heyward.
Some scouts think the changes to Heyward's off-season routine has not changed his overall swing.
“I had a scout sit in my office two
days ago and say the opposite,” Maddon said over the weekend. “He thinks
it’s entirely different. He kind of liked it. Regardless of what a
scout says in the stands, it doesn’t really impact my feelings at all. I
know what I’m seeing -- a totally different swing. The guy that says
it’s the same, I’m totally disappointed in the scout, actually.”
But another scout saw the flaw. “He has an arm bar [straight arm] and he’s late,” one NL scout said. “When you’re late, everything breaks down.”
Last season, Heyward's approach in the box was too "handsy." He was rocking his hands front to back with a chicken swing arm motion. It is a busy set-up with a lot of moving parts. Every batter has a trigger move to start his swing. In Heyward's case, depending on the rocking motion as the pitch is thrown, he has to "catch up" to his trigger point.
By contrast, Kris Bryant has a very quiet set up. His bat rests nearly perpendicular to his shoulder. He waits and makes a samurai level to upper cut swing in the zone. He is already set in his trigger position before the pitcher throws the ball.
Off-season videos of Heyward showed a different set up. He did not have the chicken swing nervousness. His hands stayed more central. However, he still has a level swing through the zone so he is not elevating the ball on contact.
I thought that Heyward should have gone to see Bryant's father, who is a batting guru who helped perfect Bryant's swing. Or sought advice from a hitting professional like ex-Cub Darryl Ward who constantly talked with teammates about hitting, contact and how to hit in situations.
But perhaps Heyward is getting too much advice that it has become a mental thing.
Regardless, Heyward will find his bat in the lower third of the line-up.
