Watch one Ryan McMahon at-bat—really watch it—and you’ll see something that would make any Little League coach start pacing like a nervous dad behind the backstop:
His lower half clocks in late. His upper half clocks in early. And the bat? Oh, the bat just sort of waves through the zone like it’s trying to hail a cab in midtown. It’s not synced. It’s not connected. It’s not… good.
This is what people mean when they talk about the “kinetic chain.” In a proper swing, energy starts in the ground, moves through the legs, rotates through the hips, and finally explodes through the hands and barrel. It’s a whip.
What McMahon is doing right now is less “whip” and more “wet noodle.” All arms. No engine. Right now, McMahon is hitting like a guy trying to win a bar bet with his upper body.
His legs? Optional.
His hips? On vacation.
His hands? Working overtime like they’re getting paid by the swing. And when that happens, the results are exactly what you’d expect:
- Late on velocity
- Out in front of off-speed
- A whole lot of empty swings
Meanwhile, in the Yankees Dugout…over on the bench sit James Rowson, Casey Dykes and Jake Hirst. Three hitting coaches. Three. At this point, you half expect one of them to at least accidentally fix something on McMahon's swing.
Now, to be fair—because fairness matters even when we’re annoyed—these guys aren’t clueless. This is the New York Yankees. They have more data than NASA... just ask Boone, he uses it more than he actually manages. But it's true, the Yankees coaches can tell you the exact millisecond McMahon’s swing goes off the rails. But if they know, they aren't fixing it. Why are they missing the problem? From the outside looking in it sure feels like they’re doing nothing.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting. What looks like a mechanical disaster might actually be a timing issue wearing a bad disguise. If McMahon is:
- Starting late
- Rushing to catch up
- Guessing instead of reacting
Then suddenly the lower half doesn’t just “disappear”—it never gets a chance to show up. And once that happens, the upper body panics. The swing speeds up. The hands take over. And boom—you’ve got a guy who looks completely disconnected. So, is it mechanics? Timing? Both? Right now, it’s playing like a greatest hits album of everything you don’t want.
And so, for me, here's the Fix. Widen the base. Sit into the legs. Let the lower half actually do its job. It’s Hitting 101… which is exactly why it’s so maddening. Basics matter, especially for McMahon right now. Because here’s the catch: fixing that isn’t a quick tweak. It’s a commitment. And midseason? That will be like deciding to rebuild your house because a window won’t close properly. It can get worse before it gets better. A lot worse. Do the tweaks in April!
Now look, I never wanted McMahon. Not a big fan of the guy. And if this is who McMahon is right now—if this disconnected, all-arms swing is the plan—then the Yankees have a bigger issue than a McMahon bat cold streak. They have a lineup spot that opposing pitchers are going to circle in red ink. Fastballs up. Spin away. Repeat until further notice.
And unless that lower half starts showing signs of life, the results aren’t going to magically change because the calendar flips to May. Dude's gotta work to fix it.
Look, this isn’t panic… yet, but it’s not nothing either. You don’t run a 35% whiff rate, follow it up with at-bats that look like a mechanical guessing game, and just assume it’ll all sort itself out.
At some point, either:
- The swing gets reconnected
- The timing gets fixed
- Or the results keep telling the truth
And the truth, right now, isn’t subtle. For a team like the Yankees—with all their resources, all their expectations, and yes, all their money—this is the kind of problem that shouldn’t linger.
Because if it does? Then Ryan McMahon won’t just be struggling. He’ll be exactly what frustrated fans are already starting to fear. A guy with all the tools… swinging like he forgot where he left them.
Yikes.
