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Marcus Thames named Hitting Coach


Sleepy Harold
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6 hours ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

I was going to make a joke that now Tyson Bagent's dad has someone to arm wrestle but that was Eric Thames.  I have no idea who Marcus Thames is so it should be a fine hire. 

If they want to hit better get better hitters.  

How can you act like you know everything about everything but not know who Marcus Thames is?

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Ok, so in 2023, the Angels were actually team #6 in terms of Launch Angle. This is positive, and furthermore, their launch angle didn't substantially drop when he came in, so it doesn't look like he was specifically saying "hit the ball on the ground!!!" However, it also didn't improve when he got there and...

In 2022, the Marlins were team #26. Team #27 that year was the White Sox. At least the Marlins were a ground ball team in 2021 also, so this isn't the obvious trend the White Sox had under Menechino. 

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On 11/7/2023 at 7:15 AM, caulfield12 said:

Bounced around a lot the last three years.

Three different teams.  Yankees and Angels with Ohtani/Trout high profile.

Marlins more like the current Sox in 2022.

When Ohtani started struggling in his 1st spring training with the Angels they talk about 2 guys influential in getting rid of his leg kick and switching to a toe tap. Albert Pujols planted the seed when Ohtani asked him about it.

Pujols told him it's easier to recognize pitches without having to worry about your stride. So the seed was planted and then current Mets asst.  hitting coach Eric Hinske is credited with suggesting Ohtani try a toe tap.

But like many great players they are serious about getting better. You gather a lot of information, then you process it , run it through your mental strainer before you decide to take a particular course of action and keep the other stuff filed away if needed later. Supposedly Ohtani liked how he started hitting shots all over the park during BP after he went to the toe tap . It isn't always that obvious. Often players resist changes because they might feel uncomfortable with it at first. However the process is the same. Be a sponge of knowledge, strain the knowledge . Do or talk to good hitters who do what you are thinking of changing to, to  get their thoughts on how it helps them. Implement change give it time. If it doesn't feel right or produce any results that feels like you are progressing, then see what else is in that bank of info you filed away.

I always got the impression that this was what Burger was going through once he started getting time with the Sox. He did like to talk about that sim program he liked to use that he said wasn't available during road games.
I remember after some games on the post game shows Garfien would bring it up and Ozzie Guillen would make jokes about it. Hard to know for sure if Ozzie thought what Burger was doing was a joke or if he was just clowning around poking fun at something foreign to him.

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7 minutes ago, BigHurt3515 said:

He said a lot of nothing lol

The Diamondbacks led MLB in Sacrifice Bunts. 

During the postseason, every team had 1 or fewer Sacrifice Bunts, except the Diamondbacks who had 9. The Diamondbacks were the first team in a World Series to have their #3 hitter bunt since Kirby Puckett in 1991. This happened in game 5, which they lost despite a great start.

Therefore, there needs to be more sacrifice bunts as look how often it happened in the playoffs, look how many teams were doing it.

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15 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

The Diamondbacks led MLB in Sacrifice Bunts. 

During the postseason, every team had 1 or fewer Sacrifice Bunts, except the Diamondbacks who had 9. The Diamondbacks were the first team in a World Series to have their #3 hitter bunt since Kirby Puckett in 1991. This happened in game 5, which they lost despite a great start.

Therefore, there needs to be more sacrifice bunts as look how often it happened in the playoffs, look how many teams were doing it.

Don’t prioritize two short series over 162 games of mediocre baseball.

They made the World Series as a twelve seed solely because of the ridiculous number of wild cards and the fact the Dodgers who pwned them by 16 games had an injury and domestic violence suspension depleted rotation. 

They did not reach the WS based on any sort of merit beyond two postseason weeks or due to their mastery and prioritization of sacrifice bunting. Would say the speed (2nd overall in stolen bases) and defense (7th overall per fan graphs) were the two modes of Ozzie Ball / Small Ball worth replicating, not the making outs on purpose aspect.

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6 minutes ago, South Side Hit Men said:

Don’t prioritize two short series over 162 games of mediocre baseball.

They made the World Series as a twelve seed solely because of the ridiculous number of wild cards and the fact the Dodgers who pwned them by 16 games had an injury and domestic violence suspension depleted rotation. 

They did not reach the WS based on any sort of merit beyond two postseason weeks or due to their mastery and prioritization of sacrifice bunting. Would say the speed (2nd overall in stolen bases) and defense (7th overall per fan graphs) were the two modes of Ozzie Ball / Small Ball worth replicating, not the making outs on purpose aspect.

But those things are hard and take work. Bunts are easy and are a perfect substitute for hard work. 

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39 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

But those things are hard and take work. Bunts are easy and are a perfect substitute for hard work. 

Why Zack Remillard has the last roster spot on the 2014-15 Royals...him or Terrence Gore.

Christian Colon spot in postseason.

Edited by caulfield12
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56 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

But those things are hard and take work. Bunts are easy and are a perfect substitute for hard work. 

Successful Bunts (sacrifices or for hits) appeared difficult for most White Sox over the past few years, even when they made sense (poor hitter, late inning playing for a run to win or tie).

 

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14 minutes ago, South Side Hit Men said:

Successful Bunts (sacrifices or for hits) appeared difficult for most White Sox over the past few years, even when they made sense (poor hitter, late inning playing for a run to win or tie).

 

The number of cases where I find them to make sense are, for good teams, so rare that I don't care. Work a bloody count and take a walk. Put the ball in play. This has gotten more the case over time, and "we're gonna bunt more" not only gives away too many games but it also is just a seriously flawed concept. Don't give away outs in close games. 

It is a backwards strategy and a cover for poor actual baseball skills. Even in a world of Manfred ball, put the ball in play.

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6 minutes ago, Tony said:

In the 2023 postseason:

- Teams to score first  went 32-9
- Teams to out-homer opponents went 25-4 (22-6 last PS)
- 49.1% of runs were scored via HR (was 41.0% in '23 RS, 46.8% in '22 PS)

So the solution to postseason success is first inning bunts.

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