Control the Zone, Redux
anybody else wanna negotiate?

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Youse mooks probably read through all this stuff as it comes down.  Dr. D, in his curmudgeonly fashion, is just now reading Jan. 13 stuff as he types.  (More fun to simul-type-read.)  Hmmmm, this Shannon Drayer piece has quite a few DiPoto quotes...

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"Most will be taught through development," he said. "The younger you can get with a player and give him a plan at the plate, the better off you are going to be. You don't hit very effectively in the big leagues without a plan. We're trying to instill that in our players, particularly our young players. It's something we are going to demand from them. We want to see them control that line of scrimmage and create advantage for us."

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Last week, Bill James Online was controlling the line of scrimmage on a related point.  If a 17-year-old is drafted at the same slot as a 19-year-old, the 17-year-old will have a better ML career even though the drafters are trying to adjust for age.  

It makes you wonder just how young you have to get to a kid.  And DiPoto conceded that you're not going to do much with ML veterans:

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Once you have reached a certain point in your career you kind of are what you are," Dipoto pointed out. "You might be able to get subtly better in some areas but you are not likely to see a dynamic shift in the way guys play."

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Dr. D fancies that, sometimes, the Grok-a-Tron(TM) can infer things out of the mouths of shot-callers.  Via free association.  DiPoto covered his previous tracks by saying he HAS batters who are good at the specifics of Line of Scrimmage Control:  Kyle Seager is good at it (first tier).  Robinson Cano (second tier).  Aoki, Iannetta and Lind (third tier).   Seth Smith "does these things" - well, so does Mike Zunino when setting world records for Bugs Bunny throughswings.  DiPoto meant it well, but Dr. D himself is not delighted by this kind of backhand compliment...

ANNOUNCEMENT WE'RE TONGUE IN CHEEK HERE someguyz you just gotta watch .... Personally my impression is that Seager does think more at the plate, despite Cano's superior EYE ratio.  Talent enters in.   On 3rd-and-6 with the linebackers blitzing and a runner on second, Seager will hit a 7-yard slant pass whereas Cano might overthrow the fly pattern long.

So I kinda like DiPoto's listing, in sequence, which bemuses Dr. D because Nelson Cruz is nowhere within it.  Cruz had just become saber-ly famous for "pulling the ball in the air" at times and moments of his choosing.  But if DiPoto was disinclined to give Cruz props for his in-box strategies, well, we are talking about a guy who fanned 164 times last year.  Vlad Guerrero could zing the ball anywhere he wanted, but wasn't known for his bulging brain at the plate.  It's possible that Cruz is in the Vlad-Kirby-Yogi category.  After all this time, Dr. D can't tell.

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Dr. D also appreciated DiPoto's willingness to buffer his vets.  Again looking at this line:

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"Once you have reached a certain point in your career you kind of are what you are," Dipoto pointed out. "You might be able to get subtly better in some areas but you are not likely to see a dynamic shift in the way guys play."

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Well, okay, but ... don't some teams win 95 and others lose 95?  Didn't DiPoto quit the Angels in large part due to some big thing about Mike Scioscia not relaying the pregame Strike Zone(TM) reports?  Does Mike Zunino really come up with as good a plan against Dallas Keuchel as Edgar Martinez can?  We presume that Jerry is probably just being a little modest here.

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Drayer quoted Taylor saying, "The meetings we had where we got to hear Scott Servais, Andy McKay speak, all the new staff, they really had a couple of things that they brought into the meetings that I hadn't heard in the past," he said. "One of the things that really hit home with me was understanding what type of hitter you were and not trying to do too much. Andy McKay talked about there are three types of hitters. There's a contact hitter, a gap-to-gap hitter and a power hitter. There's a lot of times in the game where we can forget what type of hitter we are, if we are a contact hitter we can convince ourselves we are a gap-to-gap hitter depending on the count and situation of the game, and that's where we get into trouble and get ourselves out."

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Certainly, "staying within yourself" is something that clutch players -- all sports -- talk about.  Letting the game come to you.  Kyle Seager, with two out and the tying run on, is more likely to chip one into left field than he is to lunge for a gloryball.  Tony Parker, in the last few seconds of an NBA game, is going to insist on finding a shot that's in somebody's money zone.

But I've never heard hitters broken down into these 3 categories:

  • Contact
  • Power
  • Gap-to-Gap!?

Some stats sites will give you a batter's results vs "Power," "Finesse" and, um, Neither or whatever they call it.  But the above?  You ever seen that?

Sounds to me like a reminder:  if your Nori Aoki, look to wait on the ball and click it solidly, perhaps the other way.  If you're Dustin Ackley, focus on going up the middle.  If you're David Ortiz, be thinking in terms of a pitch you can drive...

But here's the question.  What current M is a gap-to-gap hitter?

BABVA,

Dr D

Comments

1

I immediately think Seager and Cano. If there's agreement on those there are undoubtedly a couple more at least (though it might take VsL or VsR split to highlight some)

But I'm not sure the phrase "Gap-to-gap" intuitively describes what it is intended to. It initially sounded to me, years ago, that it meant players who generally hit from LFC gap to RCF gap. Looking at the list of players described as such, it seems it's meant to include as far out as the 1b line "gap" and 3b line "gap". Edgar Martinez was called this at times. Looking at the players who have been described as gap-to-gap hitters has given me the understanding that it's meant to say they'll collect many doubles and if they have speed some triples. Gap finders seems more intuitively apt a description than gap-to-gap. They tend to hit the pitch they're given and do what they can with it, using the entire field. That's if I'm understanding it correctly. I have had trouble finding spray charts of anyone ever to hit noticeably more from LCF to RCF than outside it anyway.

But then Edgar would fit in all 3 categories to an extent. Power would probably be the one to drop from a discussion first so how do you choose whether he was gap to gap or contact?

2

really good point.

When I hear 'gap' I automatically equate it with 'gap power'--the abiliity to hit it to the wall, but not over it.

But your directional theory might have some merit.  Does that equate to someone who never actively tries to pull the ball?

Will be interesting to find out.

3

"You make a mistake to that guy, there's no telling where the ball will end up."  Especially including down the 1B line :- )   Long before Edgar was appreciated, he was "Senor Doble" but folks based that mostly on watching the numbers in the doubles column.

Would agree that this is a type of hitter, one who's especially good at hitting the ball hard, where it's pitched.  Dunno whether that is Servais' definition.

4

With you diderot,

(And I posted this in my comments in the previous thread)  "Gap" hitters seem to be those guys who one-hop the opposite gap wall.  Those guys get higher regard, as prospects, than the guys who hit the 150 ft liner the other way.  We discount the 2nd, as if it were a random thing, and reward the first, when we look at prospects.

Well, "we" don't, "we" being this band of enlightened SSI brothers, but most of baseball does, for sure.

5

From http://www.sportingcharts.com/dictionary/mlb/gap-hitter.aspx

'What is Gap Hitter?

A type of player known for his batting strength and ability to hit into the gaps or alleys between the outfielders and down the line. Gap hitters are known for their ability to generate doubles and triples.

Also known as "doubles hitter".'

So it seems gap hitting is what this site is dedicated to: http://www.thehittingproject.com/how-to-hit-line-drives.html

'Young baseball players should be happy with doubles in the gap. Young hitters need to understand that these doubles will eventually turn into home runs as their body gets stronger. In this case, the hitter does not need to make any mechanical adjustments to hit home runs, he just needs to be patient as his body and swing develops strength over time.'

“I’m just hitting the ball to right-center,” Trout said. “Maybe I’ll pull the ball a bit to left-center sometimes, but pretty much, I stay hands inside the ball."

"I always try left field only,” the left-handed-hitting Cano said. “After that, I try to hit line drives.”

The focus' that I see quickly picking through the info in a few places on that site are on keeping back, making solid contact (squared as opposed to swatted) and taking the up the middle and opposite field hits that are given.

That all seems to me as the type of hitter we're talking about. Yet it all seems to apply to 'Contact' types as well. Maybe Contact is meant as basically slap hitting.

6

And exactly as you said, the problem is delineating this from "contact" hitting.  Would agree that "slap" hitting covers the guys who weigh 165 lbs; their job is to get the ball through the infield.

The Trouts and Canos, when they get their pitch, are wanting to get the ball through the OUTfield.  For me, it's a different thing to have great "plate coverage" with an authoritative swing, vs. taking a pepper swing at the ball.

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A constant theme in baseball, and especially with "Control the Zone" is --- > force the pitcher into your hot zone and then *do some damage* when you do finally get your pitch.

  • Contact = crisp one-hopper through the infield
  • Gap to Gap = 100 MPH rising line drive going where the ball's pitched
  • Power = Pull it a long way in the air

Think there's a lot of merit to this paradigm.  James is asking the baseball world to think more about the first one, and "C the Z" should help with that some ...

7

...in how far your line drives carry to the opposite field defines you as either a 'slappy' or a 'gappy'?  :)

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