McCovey
04-22-2008, 06:09 PM
Man, Larry Wayne Jones is white hot right now.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Chipper Jones in complete control
Chipper Jones watched videotape of Chad Billingsley early Saturday afternoon, pausing for a moment to consider this question, among others: What has he learned about hitting that he didn't know a decade ago? "I've always watched videotape," Jones said, "but back then, it was more so watching myself. I was mostly concerned with my mechanics, making sure I was sound. That was stupid, on my part." When he watches videotape now, he focuses on opposing pitchers, to pick up possible tendencies: What does a pitcher like to throw in a given ball-strike count? If he likes to throw his offspeed pitch in a 2-0 count, what pitch is it, and what kind of location might he aim for? When he throws a fastball, what kind of fastball will he throw -- a cutter, perhaps, or a sinker that veers away from a left-handed hitter. "I'm sitting here watching a tape of Billingsley pitching against the Padres," Jones said, "against Adrian Gonzalez, Brian Giles and Jim Edmonds. Those are three left-handed hitters who are a lot like me, and so, I'm basically looking to get a feel of what he likes to do against them." Jones figures that he has a better recognition of the relative strengths of opposing starting pitchers, of "staying within himself. There are some pitchers that I'm going to face that I'm probably not going to take deep." So he might go into a game with a plan to grind out his at-bats against a given starting pitcher -- generally looking to drive the ball through the middle, or the other way. If the ball-strike count turns in his favor, well, then he can take his shot. But against certain pitchers, he says, he "won't try to swing from the heels." Scouts watching Jones so far see a hitter who is completely in control, even in at-bats when the pitcher seems to have an advantage. "Even when he's fooled, he does a great job of keeping his hands back," one scout said. Billingsley had excellent stuff Saturday, and Jones drew a walk and pulled a single through the right side of the Dodgers' infield, adding to his staggering early-season numbers (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/splits?playerId=3006):
He's hitting .449, with a .487 on-base percentage.
He has just seven strikeouts in 69 at-bats.
He's hitting .486 after getting ahead in the count 1-0.
He is hitting .750 (6-for-8) when swinging with a count of 2-0 or 3-1, which means that when he's getting a pitch to hit, he's killing the ball.
He is hitting .586 (17-for-29) with runners on base and .688 with runners at first base only, which means he has been able to do what he did Saturday against the Dodgers -- pull the ball through the first-base hole.
He has been more aggressive in his at-bats this season, averaging 3.22 pitches per plate appearance; interestingly, the best seasons of his career have come when he's averaged fewer pitchers per plate appearance, in general.
Chuck James filled in capably (http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/stories/2008/04/19/braves_0420.html) for the Braves on Saturday, writes David O'Brien. You get the feeling that this is rope-a-dope time for the Braves: If they are to keep up with the others in the division, they need to find a way to survive this period, a time when Tom Glavine and Rafael Soriano and other members of their pitching staff are down. If I were sitting in the Atlanta front office, I'd read these quotes (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/19/AR2008041901925.html) from Mike Hampton and would assume, for planning's sake, that I'd get exactly zero innings and zero wins out of him this year.
Jones is at .453/.488/.747, 6 HR, 16 R, 19 RBI. Wow.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Chipper Jones in complete control
Chipper Jones watched videotape of Chad Billingsley early Saturday afternoon, pausing for a moment to consider this question, among others: What has he learned about hitting that he didn't know a decade ago? "I've always watched videotape," Jones said, "but back then, it was more so watching myself. I was mostly concerned with my mechanics, making sure I was sound. That was stupid, on my part." When he watches videotape now, he focuses on opposing pitchers, to pick up possible tendencies: What does a pitcher like to throw in a given ball-strike count? If he likes to throw his offspeed pitch in a 2-0 count, what pitch is it, and what kind of location might he aim for? When he throws a fastball, what kind of fastball will he throw -- a cutter, perhaps, or a sinker that veers away from a left-handed hitter. "I'm sitting here watching a tape of Billingsley pitching against the Padres," Jones said, "against Adrian Gonzalez, Brian Giles and Jim Edmonds. Those are three left-handed hitters who are a lot like me, and so, I'm basically looking to get a feel of what he likes to do against them." Jones figures that he has a better recognition of the relative strengths of opposing starting pitchers, of "staying within himself. There are some pitchers that I'm going to face that I'm probably not going to take deep." So he might go into a game with a plan to grind out his at-bats against a given starting pitcher -- generally looking to drive the ball through the middle, or the other way. If the ball-strike count turns in his favor, well, then he can take his shot. But against certain pitchers, he says, he "won't try to swing from the heels." Scouts watching Jones so far see a hitter who is completely in control, even in at-bats when the pitcher seems to have an advantage. "Even when he's fooled, he does a great job of keeping his hands back," one scout said. Billingsley had excellent stuff Saturday, and Jones drew a walk and pulled a single through the right side of the Dodgers' infield, adding to his staggering early-season numbers (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/splits?playerId=3006):
He's hitting .449, with a .487 on-base percentage.
He has just seven strikeouts in 69 at-bats.
He's hitting .486 after getting ahead in the count 1-0.
He is hitting .750 (6-for-8) when swinging with a count of 2-0 or 3-1, which means that when he's getting a pitch to hit, he's killing the ball.
He is hitting .586 (17-for-29) with runners on base and .688 with runners at first base only, which means he has been able to do what he did Saturday against the Dodgers -- pull the ball through the first-base hole.
He has been more aggressive in his at-bats this season, averaging 3.22 pitches per plate appearance; interestingly, the best seasons of his career have come when he's averaged fewer pitchers per plate appearance, in general.
Chuck James filled in capably (http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/stories/2008/04/19/braves_0420.html) for the Braves on Saturday, writes David O'Brien. You get the feeling that this is rope-a-dope time for the Braves: If they are to keep up with the others in the division, they need to find a way to survive this period, a time when Tom Glavine and Rafael Soriano and other members of their pitching staff are down. If I were sitting in the Atlanta front office, I'd read these quotes (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/19/AR2008041901925.html) from Mike Hampton and would assume, for planning's sake, that I'd get exactly zero innings and zero wins out of him this year.
Jones is at .453/.488/.747, 6 HR, 16 R, 19 RBI. Wow.