Jose Lopez' Epiphany?
I saw someplace, forget where, a commenter quote a national analyst, who had claimed that Jose Lopez has "one of the quickest bats in baseball." This was followed by general derision, hilarity and peanut-shell throwing. :- )
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I fell out of my chair in the 6th inning of Wednesday's game. Roman Colon had entered the game, and on his first pitch to Jose Lopez, threw a fastball. This pitch was, according to Brooks, exactly 48 inches high off the ground, and 3 inches inside off the plate.
When a hitter is in his normal batting crouch and swings at an outside pitch, this ball is in serious danger of catching him flush on the jaw.
Might you point out to me someplace where I can see another example of a RH hitter ... other than Vlad Guerrero ... getting his bat on a pitch that is wild high, and well inside?
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Jose Lopez hit it down the LEFT field line.
He hit the pitch in the form of a smoking line drive -- because Lopez got ON TOP of that pitch. Let me read that sentence again.
I checked the gun. Colon threw the pitch 96 mph.
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When Lopez was 20, I saw some ML scout who said, "You've got to check this kid. He could pull a bullet from a 30-30 rifle."
Pat Gillick, when Felix Hernandez was 16, named Felix untouchable in trade talks, along with Jose Lopez.
When Lopez was 20 years old, he was a #4 hitter in the PCL. The definition of a blue-chip prospect: rips up A+ ball at 20, rips up AA at 21, rips up AAA at 22 ... solid player in the bigs at 23 or 24.
... Lopez' worst problems, since hitting the majors, are (a) that he pulls everything -- because his bat is so fast, and (b) that he grounds everything, zapping his HR's, because his bat is so fast that he's on top of the ball.
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=== Epiphany Dept. ===
Jim Street, combining a nose for the crucial with a feel for the right quote in Geoff Baker style, delivered the goods in his postgame:
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+++ [Lopez' sister] passed away in mid-June and Lopez went on the bereavement list for a week. He returned on July 25 with a new attitude and approach.
"When I came back, I decided to hit in the cage every day," Lopez said. "I hit the ball the other way, every swing, and it has worked. Early in the season, they pitched me away and I kept trying to pull the ball.
"Now, I think first of going the other way [to right and right-center] and pull the ball if it's inside."
The results have been impressive.
He was batting .248 with five three-hit games on June 17 and is batting .335 in his past 51 games.++
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Exactly! When your bat is faster than a snake's tongue, and your REACTION is to lash the ball down the line anyway .... absolutely! Go up thinking RF, and then adjust to the inside pitch.
Three guesses why other hitters don't try that.
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=== By The Numbers Dept. ===
- 16 three-hit games this year, most in majors (per Street)
- 4 three-hit games this week (per Street)
- .462 SLG on the year now, not counting Wednesday
- 102 OPS+ now
- .332 / .356 / .540 the last 28 days, not counting Wed
- Hit for a 145 OPS+ in June, 123 in July, and 213 in August
Most of the time when a hitter says "Hey! I figured out this game!," we Shandlerians refer to that as, um, "Noise." Stick to the numbers.
In THIS case? Jose Lopez' hitting strategy might just be the light coming on.
Would it be weird for Jose Lopez to figure the game out, and hit like Miguel Tejada from now on? What has been a little weird, has been that it has taken him 2,500 AB's to do so.
Dr D