Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
June 11, 2008
Placing a Hit

I've read about Ty Cobb's ability to place a hit. Before the long ball became the way to score runs, players like Cobb were very good at, if you will, hitting the ball where they ain't. Most players today just seem to swing as hard as they can and hit the ball so hard no one has time to react and field it. But after a leadoff triple by Iwamura, Carl Crawford singled throught he shortstop hole to plate the run. The way he swung, it appeared he was looking for an outside pitch that he could place in that very spot.

The Rays now have the bases loaded with two out as Lackey has walked two.

Update: Lackey gets out of the inning with no more damage.


Posted by David Pinto at 03:44 PM | Players | TrackBack (0)
Comments

David Ortiz occasionally does this: he'll take a little flick of a swing on an outside pitch, and hit a short liner or even a grounder to the (largely abandoned) left side.

He often gets on base this way, but it takes away all his power potential. I guess that's the difference between Ty Cobb's day and the present: today, almost every hitter has home-run power. Or at least doubles power. So if he tries to "hit 'em where they ain't," he is most likely trading a higher BA for a lower SLG. For many batters, the power is more valuable even if less frequent.

Posted by: jvwalt at June 11, 2008 04:30 PM
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