Jo Adell, at Driveline

[Tank]

6 hours ago, ukyah said:

It's mind bottling.

B-O-G-G-L-I-N-G

it's mind boggling.

[Chuck]

@Inside Pitch so what benefit do you see Jo Adell obtaining from his time at Driveline? 

I ask this not in a sarcastic way, but I truly don't know what all is taught there and what the focus is outside of hitting fastballs off a machine or throwing mechanics for pitchers. 

To me Jo Adell's biggest issue was his swing and misses on sliders away and offspeed stuff. I hope he can also spend some time this offseason improving his defense in the outfield. 

It would truly be a boon to the club if he were to fully reach his potential and overcome some of shortcomings at the plate and on the field. 

[Stradling]

16 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

@Inside Pitch so what benefit do you see Jo Adell obtaining from his time at Driveline? 

I ask this not in a sarcastic way, but I truly don't know what all is taught there and what the focus is outside of hitting fastballs off a machine or throwing mechanics for pitchers. 

To me Jo Adell's biggest issue was his swing and misses on sliders away and offspeed stuff. I hope he can also spend some time this offseason improving his defense in the outfield. 

It would truly be a boon to the club if he were to fully reach his potential and overcome some of shortcomings at the plate and on the field. 

I’d assume they have pitching machines that throw pitchers other than fastballs. I can only assume that they break down the swing and the path to the ball. They would also be able to compare pitch location strength for the hitters. 

[Inside Pitch]

On 1/4/2023 at 11:39 AM, Chuckster70 said:

@Inside Pitch so what benefit do you see Jo Adell obtaining from his time at Driveline? 

I ask this not in a sarcastic way, but I truly don't know what all is taught there and what the focus is outside of hitting fastballs off a machine or throwing mechanics for pitchers. 

To me Jo Adell's biggest issue was his swing and misses on sliders away and offspeed stuff. I hope he can also spend some time this offseason improving his defense in the outfield. 

It would truly be a boon to the club if he were to fully reach his potential and overcome some of shortcomings at the plate and on the field. 

I don't know that all they do is have guys hit fastballs off machines.  I mean even sub 2K Yeti machines can throw left and right curve balls and sliders anywhere between 50-100 MPH. The TP Ultra machines can be programmed to throw pitches in any sequence but the readily available consumer ones topped out at 90 or so.

I'd imagine the machines at drive line are significantly more advanced.  Is this comment based on something you are privy to or from watching that video?

They do all kinds of body movement and bat through zone analytics.  Both are areas of concern with Adell.  They also reverse engineer tunnelling to the benefit of hitters.  They are said to refine a hitter's tendencies which after being remade multiple times may be something he needs.

Mostly it comes down to this, the Angels have had him for how long?  We have seen him develop how much since his first call up?  A really strong argument can be made he took a massive step backwards from 21 to 22..  So a fresh set of eyes simply looking at what the player does naturally can't hurt.

If indeed he and the other hitters were props in some power play between what the manager wanted and the front office was preaching then an outside POV is the best thing for him, aka Taylor Ward.

When I see him I see the same exact guy who people here were clamoring for in 2020, and while that means the talent is obvious, the lack of development is even more obvious.

[T.G.]

Did Taylor Ward spend time at Driveline prior to last season?

[Blarg]

23 minutes ago, T.G. said:

Did Taylor Ward spend time at Driveline prior to last season?

Ward worked with former teammate from college, Trent Woodward. Woodward was actually employed by the Astros at the time but this was off season work. 

https://www.latimes.com/sports/angels/story/2022-05-05/angels-taylor-ward-top-hitter-mlb-houston-astros-technology

 

[ThisismineScios]

53 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

@Inside Pitch so what benefit do you see Jo Adell obtaining from his time at Driveline? 

I ask this not in a sarcastic way, but I truly don't know what all is taught there and what the focus is outside of hitting fastballs off a machine or throwing mechanics for pitchers. 

To me Jo Adell's biggest issue was his swing and misses on sliders away and offspeed stuff. I hope he can also spend some time this offseason improving his defense in the outfield. 

It would truly be a boon to the club if he were to fully reach his potential and overcome some of shortcomings at the plate and on the field. 

Adell's numbers are actually the worst against FB's, 4-seamers to be precise. This has always been his problem. He chases them out of the zone or is late on them--especially with 2 strikes. His put away % last year was far worse on 4SFB and Sinkers than any other pitch. Pitchers would just throw him a 2-strike FB and he would chase it. 

Don't get me wrong, he was bad in terms of whiff and K % against every pitch. But the FB seems to be his bugaboo. Last year he started swinging at the first pitch a lot less (42% in 2021, 28% in 2022). But his whiff % overall went up from '21 to '22. I (little league hero myself) believe he has very poor pitch recognition; perhaps Driveline could help him with that. 

Also...ask Mr. Trout? Mike has been getting hurt by FBs lately but is annihilating everything else. Wouldn't hurt to check in there to see how he handles that. 

[Angel Oracle]

14 hours ago, Warfarin said:

Is his going to Driveline going outside the organization, or do you think the Angels encouraged him to do it?  I always thought players ended up at Driveline because they were encouraged to do so by their organization, but not really sure on that one.

Especially with the Halos having hired a Driveline pitching coach as asst pitching coach 

[Inside Pitch]

1 hour ago, Angel Oracle said:

Especially with the Halos having hired a Driveline pitching coach as asst pitching coach 

Anytime a player seeks coaching help from people not affiliated with his current team he is effectively going outside the organization.  There is nothing nefarious to it, it's pretty common.

Again, the reality that the Angels keep poaching from Driveline pretty much makes clear the team at the very least values what they preach there.  

[Jeff Fletcher]

15 hours ago, Trendon said:

One question I’ve had is: why do the Angels only have one Assistant GM?

Any idea, @Jeff Fletcher?

I know it’s just a title, but they’re like the only team in MLB with only 1 AGM.

It’s not even like they have execs with inflated titles like “VP of Baseball Ops” or “EVP.”

Is it an ownership thing? Is it how Minasian wants to structure his front office?

They have usually had two. It was Steve Martone and Jonathan Strangio under Billy Eppler. Minasian initially had two when it was Alex Tamin and Gene Watson. Watson then left for the Royals and they never gave anyone else the title. I don't think titles are a big deal. Generally when you give someone the PBO title it's more about what you pay them and less about what their job duties are. Brian Cashman is still the Yankees GM. 

The bottom line is it's probably an Arte thing that he doesn't want to pay for a lot of titles.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

5 hours ago, Dtwncbad said:

 

That was my thought. It's "boggling", but I digress.

[ukyah]

6 hours ago, Tank said:

B-O-G-G-L-I-N-G

it's mind boggling.

 

no. it's mind bottling. you know, like when things get so crazy that your thoughts are like trapped in a bottle.

[ukyah]

1 hour ago, Vegas Halo Fan said:

That was my thought. It's "boggling", but I digress.

that's funny. who ever got trapped in a boggle? the lid pops off way too easily. bottles have caps and lids and thoughts aren't a solid, they're more gaseous much better for bottling. 

you guys are funny though.

[Tank]

17 minutes ago, ukyah said:

 

no. it's mind bottling. you know, like when things get so crazy that your thoughts are like trapped in a bottle.

mind-bog·gling

 

adjective

INFORMAL

 

1. overwhelming; startling.

   "a chip that processes data at mind-boggling speed"

[ten ocho recon scout]

18 hours ago, Docwaukee said:

yeah.  he had a groupon.  

It is new years. Lots of new faces at the gym this week... that I'll never see again by Martin Luther King day...

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, ukyah said:

 

no. it's mind bottling. you know, like when things get so crazy that your thoughts are like trapped in a bottle.

Personal philosophy? Clothing optional!

[ukyah]

1 hour ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Personal philosophy? Clothing optional!

thank you. i can't tell you how much i have loved to read these interactions and corrections. it's been great.

[ukyah]

2 hours ago, Tank said:

mind-bog·gling

 

adjective

INFORMAL

 

1. overwhelming; startling.

   "a chip that processes data at mind-boggling speed"

 

bottled up; bottling up; bottles up

: to keep (a feeling or emotion) inside instead of expressing it : to hide (a feeling or emotion)

 

 

[WicketMaiden]

bog·gle

  (bŏg′əl)

v. bog·gled, bog·gling, bog·gles

v.intr.

1. To hesitate as if in fear or doubt.

2. To shy away or be overcome with fright or astonishment: "The mind now boggling at all the numbers on the table, both sides agreed to a recess of an hour" (Henry A. Kissinger).

3. To act ineptly or inefficiently; bungle.

v.tr.

1. To cause to be overcome, as with fright or astonishment.

2. To botch; bungle.

---

 

[tdawg87]

You guys are nerds.

[Rollinghard]

22 hours ago, Warfarin said:

That doesn't look like Jo Adell jumping on a box!

But that said, that's cool.  Hopefully he's getting reps hitting against breaking balls and whatnot.

Whoopee. He is  strong. Those swings don't really impress me. He looks tight and unbalanced to me. I real good hitter would be much more relaxed and balance. Pitching machine would be weak sauce for them 

[Revad]

10 minutes ago, Rollinghard said:

Whoopee. He is  strong. Those swings don't really impress me. He looks tight and unbalanced to me. I real good hitter would be much more relaxed and balance. Pitching machine would be weak sauce for them 

Where’s Rod Carew when we need him. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

3 hours ago, ukyah said:

thank you. i can't tell you how much i have loved to read these interactions and corrections. it's been great.

I live that movie so much

 

[ukyah]

3 hours ago, WicketMaiden said:

bog·gle

  (bŏg′əl)

v. bog·gled, bog·gling, bog·gles

v.intr.

1. To hesitate as if in fear or doubt.

2. To shy away or be overcome with fright or astonishment: "The mind now boggling at all the numbers on the table, both sides agreed to a recess of an hour" (Henry A. Kissinger).

3. To act ineptly or inefficiently; bungle.

v.tr.

1. To cause to be overcome, as with fright or astonishment.

2. To botch; bungle.

---

 

yeah, but that's the English expression, not the english expression. it's different across the Pacific. 

[ukyah]

22 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I live that movie so much

 

shhh, it's still happening.