Essentially.
They made him less efficient.
Bat wrap happens as part of the loading process. By limiting the movement of his barrel, they removed much of his loading mechanism. That made him more static and bound up. As a result, he had to swing harder to achieve the same result, which killed his average.
Last year he hit much better from the right side than from the left side, due in large part to the fact that they didn't mess with him from that side. From the right side he loads better and wraps the barrel more as a result.
The telltale is to watch how close the barrel gets to the back of the helmet.
This is what I get for not reading all the posts, just going to the last page and either repeating or contributing little to recent discourse. It was already discussed about pitch location. Thanks for pointing out about the tip of the catcher's glove in the Torres gif, TommyRobertson. You can see where the pitch is going to be by the responsive mechanics of the hitters. My point all along that pitch location changes mechanics. Don't compare apples and oranges. Though these two gifs are close enough I feel. It was already discussed about bat wrap also. Then I popped in with my two cents. What I will say again, I do not consider coil or bat wrap bad. I like Posey's swing and increased wrist load at connection at the hip. I like it in knightsb's DD's swing. I like it in Brooke's swing. I also like it NOT in Jessica Mendoza's swing. What does that mean? You can't teach every kid the same. What makes me crazy is reinventing the wheel. I don't like "turning the barrel". I read about that last year. You mean flattening the barrel to a reasonable angle to initiate the swing. The concept has been there for 60 years or more. Chris probably knows more than me. I imagine he knows what I am talking about. Another part of this, if a batter has a lot of lean, then the the bat head is not vertical. It is the relationship to the shoulders that determines the angle, not a "view".
Stretch and Fire. I like this drill. I have said all along I like this drill and its ability to reproduce a NORMAL approach to hitting an outside pitch deep. The swing path is not unique! If you orient correctly to the ball, not fooled, and point your belly button to right-center field, if your back knee and back shoe laces point at RF also, then your swing duplicates a swing to pull the ball. However, just as the hips turn short, about 50% or so toward RF, your swing also is short toward RF. Your extension is pointed at right-center field also. It is the same finish, but the bat is released earlier in the process. There is little movement before connection at the hip. Swing away! So the swing is not something new.
Seeing something that is not there is an issue. Comparing apples to oranges is an issue. You can not compare the swing path on an outside pitch to an inside pitch, high to low.
MTS, you told me that you couldn't hit to RF as I describe, the ball would go foul. I would ask all of you dads, coaches, assistant coaches, if you face your bat square to, or at the 2nd base fielding position, that is a 22.5 degree slant or angle on the bat. If not other variables such as a tilted bat angle, etc. interfered with the bunted ball, what direction would the bunted ball go? Now, when hitting, the orientation of the core is at the 2nd base fielding position. The neutral wrist position would place the bat just the same as when bunting. The wrist isn't cocked, isn't breaking. So what happens next. The power band, or ideal wrist snap angle as I said before is about 12-15 degrees. The brings the bat head around toward the pitcher more. It could be 10-25 degrees perhaps. That said, now the bat angle is between the 2nd base fielding position (theoretically between 1/2 way between 1st and 2nd) and 2nd base (or pitcher). Where is the ball going to go? It is called basic geometry. And I am called the fool.
When launch is narrowly defined as I see in Posey, and perhaps some others. I approve. I like his swing better than Torres. His swing resembles Brooke and Olivia's swings more. That is why I like theirs. That is why Chris O'Leary likes Posey's better I assume. You can't just make things up to suite your theories. These things bothered me.
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