Walker's improvement

[jw0595]

I posted a video recently of Ted Williams saying when he was in the minors he asked Lefty O'Doul for advice and Lefty told him "don't ever let anybody change your swing".

Perhaps the change is go back to swinging the way you used to.

Would ol' Lefty had said the same thing if he has talking to Jordan?

We'll never know but Willie McGee at Shannon's once said something similar. When he first arrived in St Louis a coach came to him and wanted to change his swing. Dave Ricketts intervened and told the coach to leave him alone. Willie was thankful for that. Pete Rose in a video said the same thing. Never change your swing.

It appears the Cards sent Walker to the minors in his rookie season to do exactly that because they wanted him to hit more home runs.

Mostly a tongue in cheek comment from myself.
Obviously, I am just a toad with a keyboard

I have always thought that Walker needed to adjust his balance and his approach. Not necessarily
his swing. Those two things are what led to a "bad" swing. He is far more balanced in his latest edition
again opinion. IF he stays there he is hindered to chase especially low and away where those bad swings
occur most often. Makes the plate smaller. JW had a 23" plate. Approach, pitch recognition hopefully comes
easier when a pitcher has to throw strikes.

My assumptions of the work have always been along the lines. Probably because of my very own bias. Players
can outperform flaws. Totally agree. Cleaning up flaws early, vs late or never each are individual. But JW should
benefit from making pitchers come to him and being balanced when they do.

Pete Rose - never change your swing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB5HLxmMT00

That's one of the best videos I've ever seen. When you understand that, you understand hitting. Adjust everything else around your swing.

[ScotchMIrish]

I posted a video recently of Ted Williams saying when he was in the minors he asked Lefty O'Doul for advice and Lefty told him "don't ever let anybody change your swing".

Perhaps the change is go back to swinging the way you used to.

Would ol' Lefty had said the same thing if he has talking to Jordan?

We'll never know but Willie McGee at Shannon's once said something similar. When he first arrived in St Louis a coach came to him and wanted to change his swing. Dave Ricketts intervened and told the coach to leave him alone. Willie was thankful for that. Pete Rose in a video said the same thing. Never change your swing.

It appears the Cards sent Walker to the minors in his rookie season to do exactly that because they wanted him to hit more home runs.

Mostly a tongue in cheek comment from myself.
Obviously, I am just a toad with a keyboard

I have always thought that Walker needed to adjust his balance and his approach. Not necessarily
his swing. Those two things are what led to a "bad" swing. He is far more balanced in his latest edition
again opinion. IF he stays there he is hindered to chase especially low and away where those bad swings
occur most often. Makes the plate smaller. JW had a 23" plate. Approach, pitch recognition hopefully comes
easier when a pitcher has to throw strikes.

My assumptions of the work have always been along the lines. Probably because of my very own bias. Players
can outperform flaws. Totally agree. Cleaning up flaws early, vs late or never each are individual. But JW should
benefit from making pitchers come to him and being balanced when they do.

Pete Rose - never change your swing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB5HLxmMT00

That's one of the best videos I've ever seen. When you understand that, you understand hitting. Adjust everything else around your swing.

Full video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yae1KxRSq0g

Frank Thomas says "that's church. That's why you got 4,200 hits."

[Hazelwood72]

they are saying he/they figured something out at AA.

does that tell you/me that the coaching is better at Springfield than at Memphis?

Maybe so. Or maybe the pitching at AA level is easier to hit.

Personally, whoever in the Cardinal Bird Brain Trust that tried to make Walker a slugger should be fired. I still think that’s where Walker was let down.

[DwaininAztec]

they are saying he/they figured something out at AA.

does that tell you/me that the coaching is better at Springfield than at Memphis?

Maybe so. Or maybe the pitching at AA level is easier to hit.

Personally, whoever in the Cardinal Bird Brain Trust that tried to make Walker a slugger should be fired. I still think that’s where Walker was let down.

What they were trying to do with Walker was get his groundball rate back to what it was in the minors. His gb rate had shot up to over 60%, while it had been in the low to mid 40% throughout his minor league career. What had not changed was the velocity off his bat which was among the league leaders.

Walker looks a lot more comfortable at the plate now that he got rid of that weird thing with his left foot. He is more closed up which has resulted in his left foot moving toward the pitcher not into the bucket. His natural strength is showing as the ball is taking off when he is making contact.

[Futuregm2]

they are saying he/they figured something out at AA.

does that tell you/me that the coaching is better at Springfield than at Memphis?

Maybe so. Or maybe the pitching at AA level is easier to hit.

Personally, whoever in the Cardinal Bird Brain Trust that tried to make Walker a slugger should be fired. I still think that’s where Walker was let down.

What they were trying to do with Walker was get his groundball rate back to what it was in the minors. His gb rate had shot up to over 60%, while it had been in the low to mid 40% throughout his minor league career. What had not changed was the velocity off his bat which was among the league leaders.

Walker looks a lot more comfortable at the plate now that he got rid of that weird thing with his left foot. He is more closed up which has resulted in his left foot moving toward the pitcher not into the bucket. His natural strength is showing as the ball is taking off when he is making contact.

Except in small sample sizes his GB% has not been that high in the MLB level. Also in A ball his GB% was 55%, it was better in A+ (42.9%) and AA (45.5%) though.

His highest so far is 50% which came in 2024. The bigger issue last year was a terribly low LD rate (6.9%). This year it’s back to 15.5% at least, which still is not nearly as good as 2023 (17.9%) or his minor league numbers pre MLB (23.2% in AA, 22.1% in A+,etc.).

[rockondlouie]

Half of Walker’s hits (6 of 12) since returning from the IL have been doubles. It is the most doubles he has had in an 11 game stretch in his MLB career so far. That is a very positive sign.

He’s hitting .308/.372/.462 over 11 games/43 PAs since returning.

duce posted this in another thread:
"Bloom has stripped down the minors and rebuilt the R&D side, philosophy side for almost 2 seasons now. He's added more coaches/instructors per level to get up to speed with the rest of the Orgs. Guys who probably wouldn't have panned out early on in their pro career, are having remarkably/incredibly good years".

Very interesting Walker has come back from that revamped system and is doing well (6 doubles: .308 .372 .462 .834) as you mentioned.

Looks like the Bloom player development system from TB/Boston is still effective.

If they can fix Walker (and Gorman), this will be a totally different looking offense even before Bloom adds/subtracts this offseason!

[ramfandan]

they are saying he/they figured something out at AA.

does that tell you/me that the coaching is better at Springfield than at Memphis?

Maybe so. Or maybe the pitching at AA level is easier to hit.

Personally, whoever in the Cardinal Bird Brain Trust that tried to make Walker a slugger should be fired. I still think that’s where Walker was let down.

What they were trying to do with Walker was get his groundball rate back to what it was in the minors. His gb rate had shot up to over 60%, while it had been in the low to mid 40% throughout his minor league career. What had not changed was the velocity off his bat which was among the league leaders.

Walker looks a lot more comfortable at the plate now that he got rid of that weird thing with his left foot. He is more closed up which has resulted in his left foot moving toward the pitcher not into the bucket. His natural strength is showing as the ball is taking off when he is making contact.

Where you start in your stance has no bearing how you can hit the baseball. You do not need to be squared OR closed when in your stance.
We just finished playing the Padres. Think about Manny Machado in the box. He is about as open as you can get in his stance. His left foot is not only way back , the toe of his foot is nearly pointing directly at the pitcher . When the pitcher releases the ball, he moves that left foot toward the ball and pitchers mound. Machado , like him or not, is quite the hitter . The guy is most likely going into the Hall of Fame. If he stood like that in little league his coach would say .. No no Manny ! You can't have your left foot way back where your body is facing the pitcher like that .. LOL

[renostl]

I posted a video recently of Ted Williams saying when he was in the minors he asked Lefty O'Doul for advice and Lefty told him "don't ever let anybody change your swing".

Perhaps the change is go back to swinging the way you used to.

Would ol' Lefty had said the same thing if he has talking to Jordan?

We'll never know but Willie McGee at Shannon's once said something similar. When he first arrived in St Louis a coach came to him and wanted to change his swing. Dave Ricketts intervened and told the coach to leave him alone. Willie was thankful for that. Pete Rose in a video said the same thing. Never change your swing.

It appears the Cards sent Walker to the minors in his rookie season to do exactly that because they wanted him to hit more home runs.

Mostly a tongue in cheek comment from myself.
Obviously, I am just a toad with a keyboard

I have always thought that Walker needed to adjust his balance and his approach. Not necessarily
his swing. Those two things are what led to a "bad" swing. He is far more balanced in his latest edition
again opinion. IF he stays there he is hindered to chase especially low and away where those bad swings
occur most often. Makes the plate smaller. JW had a 23" plate. Approach, pitch recognition hopefully comes
easier when a pitcher has to throw strikes.

My assumptions of the work have always been along the lines. Probably because of my very own bias. Players
can outperform flaws. Totally agree. Cleaning up flaws early, vs late or never each are individual. But JW should
benefit from making pitchers come to him and being balanced when they do.

Pete Rose - never change your swing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB5HLxmMT00

Which is all fine Scotch.

The effects of verbiage used can also have impact on how we interpret what is happening.
There are very few if any players who don't work on their swings. The term work on changes
the topic some. Without adjustments most players have weaknesses exploited.

Pete and Ted had few if anything to exploit. They still worked on their game to maintain
their greatness. Hopefully that doesn't sound dismissive to very sound advice from them.
That's far from the intent.

I think that there are more players who learn, adjust, and even repair and change
swings than those who never have to. Certainly the aging player does when he isn't able to overcome
a process that his talents previously overcame.

Balance and approach improvement is and was needed with Jordan against MLB
level pitching. IMO.

[renostl]

they are saying he/they figured something out at AA.

does that tell you/me that the coaching is better at Springfield than at Memphis?

Maybe so. Or maybe the pitching at AA level is easier to hit.

Personally, whoever in the Cardinal Bird Brain Trust that tried to make Walker a slugger should be fired. I still think that’s where Walker was let down.

What they were trying to do with Walker was get his groundball rate back to what it was in the minors. His gb rate had shot up to over 60%, while it had been in the low to mid 40% throughout his minor league career. What had not changed was the velocity off his bat which was among the league leaders.

Walker looks a lot more comfortable at the plate now that he got rid of that weird thing with his left foot. He is more closed up which has resulted in his left foot moving toward the pitcher not into the bucket. His natural strength is showing as the ball is taking off when he is making contact.

Where you start in your stance has no bearing how you can hit the baseball. You do not need to be squared OR closed when in your stance.
We just finished playing the Padres. Think about Manny Machado in the box. He is about as open as you can get in his stance. His left foot is not only way back , the toe of his foot is nearly pointing directly at the pitcher . When the pitcher releases the ball, he moves that left foot toward the ball and pitchers mound. Machado , like him or not, is quite the hitter . The guy is most likely going into the Hall of Fame. If he stood like that in little league his coach would say .. No no Manny ! You can't have your left foot way back where your body is facing the pitcher like that .. LOL

Agree that where you start may not matter.
Depends if it creates a issue for you or not.
Whatever a batters trigger is often is ok.

Manny when the pitcher starts gets into his hitting position. It's nearly the same as
when he started as a rookie. Weight back, squared up and his foot lands in the same spot.
He starts far more open now, hands a little lower but the foundation is the same.

Walker in contrast didn't and is still a work in progress. Less movement might help him
to be in a consistent spot with his front and have improved balance. It might make it difficult to even
swing at those low and away off the plate where many GB's came from.

[ScotchMIrish]

I posted a video recently of Ted Williams saying when he was in the minors he asked Lefty O'Doul for advice and Lefty told him "don't ever let anybody change your swing".

Perhaps the change is go back to swinging the way you used to.

Would ol' Lefty had said the same thing if he has talking to Jordan?

We'll never know but Willie McGee at Shannon's once said something similar. When he first arrived in St Louis a coach came to him and wanted to change his swing. Dave Ricketts intervened and told the coach to leave him alone. Willie was thankful for that. Pete Rose in a video said the same thing. Never change your swing.

It appears the Cards sent Walker to the minors in his rookie season to do exactly that because they wanted him to hit more home runs.

Mostly a tongue in cheek comment from myself.
Obviously, I am just a toad with a keyboard

I have always thought that Walker needed to adjust his balance and his approach. Not necessarily
his swing. Those two things are what led to a "bad" swing. He is far more balanced in his latest edition
again opinion. IF he stays there he is hindered to chase especially low and away where those bad swings
occur most often. Makes the plate smaller. JW had a 23" plate. Approach, pitch recognition hopefully comes
easier when a pitcher has to throw strikes.

My assumptions of the work have always been along the lines. Probably because of my very own bias. Players
can outperform flaws. Totally agree. Cleaning up flaws early, vs late or never each are individual. But JW should
benefit from making pitchers come to him and being balanced when they do.

Pete Rose - never change your swing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB5HLxmMT00

Which is all fine Scotch.

The effects of verbiage used can also have impact on how we interpret what is happening.
There are very few if any players who don't work on their swings. The term work on changes
the topic some. Without adjustments most players have weaknesses exploited.

Pete and Ted had few if anything to exploit. They still worked on their game to maintain
their greatness. Hopefully that doesn't sound dismissive to very sound advice from them.
That's far from the intent.

I think that there are more players who learn, adjust, and even repair and change
swings than those who never have to. Certainly the aging player does when he isn't able to overcome
a process that his talents previously overcame.

Balance and approach improvement is and was needed with Jordan against MLB
level pitching. IMO.

He was hitting better when was first called up. Then they sent him down to change his swing. It changed for the worse.

[cardsrmyteam]

Pete Rose or John Mozeliak. Who would you listen to more? Hence Jordan’s problem was a GM meddling with Walker’s swing. Great info