SOLVING THE HIT PROBLEM

I love an opened, active coach.  I believe that's important when you represent authority and if you're a Yankee coach, especially after we just lost in the playoffs, what fans want to see is ways to fix it.  In this case, it's hitting, it's getting back to basics, fundamentals, situational hitting, something that is rarely discussed when the Yankees are out there after a tough loss. That's why I believe Alan Cockrell will do an incredible job.  I can tell already. Why? Keep reading...

Chad Jennings of LoHud has some good stuff about Alan Cockrell, the culture of the Yankee clubhouse and the bats, and some good quotes from the man himself:

"On the day after the Royals’ World Series parade, the Yankees’ new hitting coach, Alan Cockrell, was on a conference call yesterday talking about the need to bring some of Kansas City’s winning philosophy into the Yankees’ clubhouse.

'We were a home run dominant club,' Cockrell said. 'And I love home runs as much as the next guy – and, in fact, probably more – but there needs to be a little added dimension to us offensively, and we have those guys in place to do that. … I’m not going to say playing the game like the Kansas City Royals did, but the little things that add a dimension to a club that pitchers just don’t want to face you.'... 

'We have guys that can hit homers,' Cockrell said. 'But we also have guys that can manipulate the bat a little bit, and we have guys that can use the field. There are times and situations in ball games where you are afforded the luxury of, I’m going to let it eat and I’m going to try to hit a homer. And then there are times when you say, we need a guy on base. 

We need to move a runner from second to third. We’ve got to be willing to hit a ground ball to second or short with a guy at third and the infield back in the fourth inning (to get) a run you don’t have to get off the back end of a bullpen later in the ballgame.'”

Wait a second, was Cockrell talking about fundamental baseball? Was he really just speaking about situational hitting? I LOVE THIS GUY!

As you know, Bleeding Yankee Blue has been preaching this for years here.  2 pieces come to mind.

YANKEE BASEBALL: THE BASICS OF HITTING was written back in 2012. It was about the basics of hitting:

"...for all hitters it all goes back to the beginning when we first learned how to hit a baseball.  Maybe the Yankees can get back to basics.  Sure, I love the long ball, but manufacturing runs makes me smile just as much."

Recently Suzie Pinstripe wrote IT'S CALLED SITUATIONAL HITTING & WE NEED IT,

"According to Pro Baseball Insider, "Situational hitting is an important slice of a balanced offensive attack. Understanding baseball situations and how to hit strategically in those situations set you up for a productive at bat, even if you don’t get a hit. Effective situational hitting can keep pressure on the defense and push runners around to score even if the offense isn’t fully clicking." It's a strategic use of your bench against the potential match ups on the field, it's the hit and run, it's the ground ball to the left side, it's beating the shift, it's hitting behind the runner, it's hitting the deep fly ball... it's all of this done strategically and purposefully."

Here's the thing, talk is great, Cockrell understands the problem, something that I felt Long could never understand, but now Cockrell has to execute. Now Cockrell has to get veteran hitters who are set in their ways to readjust. If he can do that, he'll be the damn genius of the whole Yankee organization.

Share this today... let's give Cockrell alittle praise here.



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