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but ... when I read ...
"You have to go out there and play and when you get your first good pitch to take a whack at, you have to take a whack at it. People stress so much getting deeper in counts and drawing walks, it's almost a backward way of looking at it."
I see a guy who IS biased towards aggression ("first good pitch ... take a whack") ... and who is also biased against the general concept of " ... getting deeper in counts and drawing walks."
I see both of those comments as supporting my view of Wedge AS AN INSTRUCTOR.
The thing is, Wedge is speaking about HIS intent when he was a hitter. He went up looking for the "first good pitch". But, what Wedge judged as a good pitch and what Ackley judge as a good pitch do not necessarily coincide. Joe Morgan as a player had a great walk rate and stellar OBP. But he routinely noted that his philosophy was that "SOME HITTERS" needed to concentrate on OBP, while it would be a mistake for others to do so." Morgan, (like Torre), understood that there isn't a single "right" or "wrong" approach. You needed to look into the context of the individual player and his skill set.
Wedge specifically points out that in HIS opinion "getting deeper into counts and drawing walks ... is backward thinking". Even given that he "accepted" walks as a player and understands they are valuable, he has a fixed and unbending opinion that there is ONE WAY to approach hitting ... his way.
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Ackley and Seager both played at UNC.
Statistically, they were eerily similar. In many aspects they hit the same ... but Dustin drew more walks and had a higher BA.
2007:
Ackley: 296-AB; 119-H; 20-2B; 3-3B; 10-HR; .402/.448/.591 - 30-BB; 21-K
Seager: 201-AB; 62-H; 10-2B; 1-3B; 2-HR; .308/.349/.398 - 11-BB; 22-K
2008:
Ackley: 278-AB; 116-H; 21-2B; 4-3B; 7-HR; .417/.503/.597 - 53-BB; 27-K
Seager: 268-AB; 93-H; 30-2B; 5-3B; 9-HR; .347/.421/.597 - 35-BB; 32-K
As Sophs, despite a 70 point edge in BA, Ackley and Seager had IDENTICAL slugging percentages in 2008.
2009:
Ackley: 255-AB; 105-H; 17-2B; 4-3B; 22-HR; .412/.511/.769 - 50-BB; 33-K
Seager: 253-AB; 99-H; 25-2B; 4-3B; 5-HR; .391/.485/.581 - 43-BB; 37-K
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Clearly, Ackley as a Freshman was not "looking to walk". He actually only had 46 points of patience that year. But, because his contact skill was so high, and he did have a naturally gifted eye, he initially became more successful when he actually dialed his aggression BACK as a sophomore. His patience basically doubles, with no negative impact on BA or ISO. Then, in his third season, his ISO jumps from 190 to 350.
The key point here is Seager added patience as his final development at UNC ... whereas Ackley added power as his final development phase. The thing is, Seager actually LOST a little ISO while adding the patience. Ackley added power without losing patience or contact.
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Characterizing Wedge as disliking walks is probably going too far on my part. Guilty as charged. I'm sure Wedge would be as happy as anyone to have any hitter, (Ackley, Smoak, Morales), hitting .300/.400/.500. But, he definitely (based on HIS quotes - including those supplied by you), IMHO, convinced there is only one route to that final outcome. He is convinced if you do not START your approach with aggression, your approach is wrong. Doesn't mean he wants swings at bad pitches. But, it does seem to me that he is far more tolerent of high-K, low-walk hitters (Olivo, Peguero), than he is of the patient ones.
I'm not in Seattle, so I don't get to see all the interviews. But, my sense from the "public" critiques of hitters over the past couple of seasons is that the patient ones get criticized publically, while the aggressive ones are more apt to get public support.and encouragement.
If that is what is happening publically, what is being said in the clubhouse in daily off hand remarks?
This is not to say he is wrong about everything. I think at this point Ackley is scared or confused at the plate. Sending him down is certainly the right call at this time.
But, I still contend that different players CAN have different routes to the same optimal outcome. As we speak, I think Smoak's recovery has been largely driven by a return to him getting his Walk rate up, (was 13.8% as a rookie in Texas), dropped to 11.3 in 2011 and 9.2 last season. Today, it's back up to 13.9%.
Clearly, Smoak's increased walk rate has NOT been a result of him scaring pitchers, as his ISO is at an all time low (.104). But, *I* believe now that Smoak has found "his" proper mindset in regards to patience, I fully expect the power WILL follow. I fully expect Smoak's ISO to jump back up into the 150 range, maybe as high as 200.
I agree with the Wedge assessment that you cannot approach the plate in fear. I think hitters need to be COMFORTABLE at the plate. Clearly Ackley has not been comfy for a long time. And Smoak has had similar spells of appearing unsettled up there. But, IMO, for a player to GET comfortable at the plate, that should START with whatever his most natural gifts and apptitudes he has. You start there - and then try to make improvements - hopefully without losing the aspects that bring the player comfort.
But getting Peguero comfy and getting Ackley comfy are two drastically different tasks. I've never gotten a sense from Wedge that he gets that.