New article breaking down Trout's swing

[eaterfan]

https://medium.com/the-cauldron/mike-trouts-gone-fishing-d71756ff157c

For anyone interested it's a good read. A long article though.

[Blarg]

Before the author gets one paragraph in he forgets Vladimir Guerrero and his ability to cover every part of the plate and 10" either side below the knees. If there was accurate pitch tracking back in Vlads early years you would probably see the same hot zones.

[ten ocho recon scout]

So when do people start throwing him up every pitch, and him adjusting?

[Turd Ferguson]

I've been fortunate to see him a few times up close.  The thing that always struck me was that he has so much bat speed that he can let the ball get very deep into the zone before even starting his swing.  It's uncanny.

[Guest]

I wonder why pitchers ever throw to him low? For balls in the top third of the zone he usually swings and misses or, at best, fouls them off. Trout has never once in his entire career had a base hit on a ball above the strike zone (he usually takes any pitch that is borderline high).

Is it just that trained muscle memory for pitchers to keep pitches down is so ingrained that pitching him in that way is uncomfortable for them and they rarely do it? If Trout had to adjust to a more "normal" swing because everyone was pitching him high. I bet his HR power would fall like a rock. 

Edited July 14, 2014 by ScottLux

[Chimi]

Pitchers are taught to keep the ball low and elevated pitches get crushed. It might not be so easy to throw a ball high but still keep it in a zone that's not over the batters head.

[laagamer]

Well I hope nobody in the league sees this.   

 

Trout won't get a hit for the rest of the season. 

[rageous]

It's amazing that Trout only has three hits in the top of the zone.

And more amazing that pitchers give him anything low in the zone.

[Guest]

It's amazing that Trout only has three hits in the top of the zone.

And more amazing that pitchers give him anything low in the zone.

A perennial MVP candidate has not once had a base hit on a pitch above the zone in his career. That's mind boggling to me.

Edited July 14, 2014 by ScottLux

[rageous]

His breakdown does make sense in how vertical Trout's swing is compared to other major leaguers. 

Reading this kind of scares me on what's possible if the pitchers are able to adjust on Trout.

Then Trout will have to tinker with his swing and make some changes so he can hit higher balls better.

[Guest]

His breakdown does make sense in how vertical Trout's swing is compared to other major leaguers. 

Reading this kind of scares me on what's possible if the pitchers are able to adjust on Trout.

Then Trout will have to tinker with his swing and make some changes so he can hit higher balls better.

Exactly. If pitchers switch to throwing high pitches to him I don't doubt he could adjust to be able to make contact but this articles suggests his current golf-like swing is what's responsible for much of his HR hitting power. He might not be able to get that power back after counter-adjusting to the pitchers' adjustments. 

Edited July 14, 2014 by ScottLux

[Broad Street]

Well according to Tigers fans the only reason he's good is steroids so...

[SoCALkid]

It's amazing that Trout only has three hits in the top of the zone.

And more amazing that pitchers give him anything low in the zone.

Think about the ultimate rule for pitchers, keep everything down, don't give him anything up in the zone. I think that's hard for a pitcher to just "change" for Trout but it's only a matter of time before they do start adjusting IMO.

[Guest]

Think about the ultimate rule for pitchers, keep everything down, don't give him anything up in the zone. I think that's hard for a pitcher to just "change" for Trout but it's only a matter of time before they do start adjusting IMO.

Some team like Oakland will probably call up a Frieri-quality scrub from the minors who can't keep his pitches down and use him as a "get Trout out" specialist, then DFA him after the series.

[Angelsjunky]

So when do people start throwing him up every pitch, and him adjusting?

 

What I think would happen is this: Trout would struggle at first and maybe for awhile, but walk a lot more as pitchers would have a hard time keeping it in the zone. His strikeout numbers would rise at first, and his average and HR would lower. What would then happen is that Trout would start to adjust - first by better utilizing his speed, making more contact and hitting less HR, but less strikeouts, more infield singles and legged out doubles and triples. I could imagine an "adjusting season" of something like .280/.420/.470 with 20 HR, 120+ walks and 180+ strikeouts. But eventually he would fully adjust and be producing similar numbers to what he is doing now. We've seen it before - Trout is so talented that he can adjust. It might take some time, but he'll always find his way back to dominance.

[RallyMo]

I wonder why pitchers ever throw to him low? For balls in the top third of the zone he usually swings and misses or, at best, fouls them off. Trout has never once in his entire career had a base hit on a ball above the strike zone (he usually takes any pitch that is borderline high).

Is it just that trained muscle memory for pitchers to keep pitches down is so ingrained that pitching him in that way is uncomfortable for them and they rarely do it? If Trout had to adjust to a more "normal" swing because everyone was pitching him high. I bet his HR power would fall like a rock.

Exactly how many pitches should he be swinging at that are above the strike zone?

[RallyMo]

Looking at that zone, it's pretty clear that there is little room for error when pitching to Trout.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Sounds about right AJ. Is his swing the same now as when he first came up?

Also, blarg mentioned vlad. Got me thinking, like what the article said about his elbows and staying on the ball longer, that doea remind a lot of vlads swing

[rageous]

What I think would happen is this: Trout would struggle at first and maybe for awhile, but walk a lot more as pitchers would have a hard time keeping it in the zone. His strikeout numbers would rise at first, and his average and HR would lower. What would then happen is that Trout would start to adjust - first by better utilizing his speed, making more contact and hitting less HR, but less strikeouts, more infield singles and legged out doubles and triples. I could imagine an "adjusting season" of something like .280/.420/.470 with 20 HR, 120+ walks and 180+ strikeouts. But eventually he would fully adjust and be producing similar numbers to what he is doing now. We've seen it before - Trout is so talented that he can adjust. It might take some time, but he'll always find his way back to dominance.

I wonder if Trout would ever start adjusting his swing now even when he is producing at such high clip, to get rid of any possible holes in his game.

[Guest]

Exactly how many pitches should he be swinging at that are above the strike zone?

Until they have electronic balls and strikes umpiring, any that are close with two strikes.

[moccasin]

It's a lot easier said than done. Pitching UP essentially means no breaking ball. You don't want pitches moving toward the heart of the plate. You don't fool people with hanging curveballs.

So you have one pitch, a fastball. A pitch you can't afford to miss high and inside with, because it could kill somebody.

[Docwaukee]

I wonder what the swing analysis looks like for the other 22yo's with back to back runner up mvp seasons.

 

Mike Trout has a swing hole right now.  Don't miss that spot.  Also, dont be surprised if you throw it right to that spot and it get's deposited into the OF seats. 

 

It's pretty unlikely he's gonna get worse any time soon.