Ichiro has transferred the responsibility from his lower body to his upper body. He used to have a golf swing, and a golf swing is a leg swing. Now he's got the swing used by .... wait for it .... Dustin Ackley.
Ackley loads his bat and reads the pitch, but he doesn't have to worry about timing his front leg. It's all centrifugal force in the shoulderline, and the vitality, the sparkle, comes from wrist snap.
Funny how that happened the year after Ichiro spent time with our next HOFer and got to examine his results with a critical eye. Phenomenal contact ability + wrist hinge + still lower body = disaster for opposing pitchers.
And he and Ackley share points of similarity that would allow Ichiro to shift his approach to Ackley's and get results. Not something Michael Saunders could do - and kinda shows Ichiro's rubber stamp of approval on Ackley as well.
We'll see what the results are, but it's gonna be interesting to go L Ackley / L Ichiro / R Montero / S Smoak / L Carp. Two stingers, two pounders, and a guy who swings with 9000% bad intentions and a chip on his shoulder.
I hate relying on the kids that much, but if there were kids to do it to...we've got em. And if an old man like Ichiro can still contribute in a big way and take some of the pressure off, I'd love to see it.
~G