All Smoke and Mirrors

A proper stride separation. Short to and long through followed by finishing high. Put those together you have both a good baseball swing and when you put the computer to it you will come out with a good attack angle and launch angle, but if you aren’t short to and long through your bat isn’t in the zone long enough.

Miggy was JD’s friend, neighbor and work out partner, when they were both on the Tigers.

Mark and AC,

I just googled JD Martinez and Miggy Cabrera and three articles popped up, how Miggy taught JD.

One article was David Price talking about how Miggy helped JD.

Remember Price was on the Tigers with both guys.

Several points that I want to respond to from above:

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1. JDM and CT3 is not a resume for me. We have no idea what or how he adjusted JDM’s swing. I have a tendency to agree more with MJ on this and that Miggy probably helped out quite a bit. Nothing to base it on, except it was in Detroit where JDM began to pound the ball. Mark is constantly pointing to JDM as an example of how someone might improve later in their career, when trying to boost Kike’s projection. A more clear picture would be how poorly the DBacks offense was last year. That might be more reflective as to how the “strategy” worked.

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1. If JDM and CT3 are Scoyoc’s resume, then my son should be a ML hitting coach. He has helped a significant number of ML hitters through his career, including one potential HOF hitter who called him out of the blue for help. And no I will never tell who the players were, so please do not ask. My son was asked by multiple teams to continue his baseball career as a coach including one manager who went to a recent WS. As a catcher, my son had an eye for what every batter was doing; studied trends in their swings. He knew what what was different in their swing, and players would quite often come to him to analyze their swing. He knew how to get batters out and went to pitchers. My son does not know the first thing about computer imaging. What he knows he learned by doing and observing at the top professional levels. He only had 14 ML PA but he spent a lot of ST games playing against ML players, including some of the best pitchers in the game at the time.

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1. I grew up an age group swimmer, and knew of Sherm Chavoor. I competed against Mark Spitz in 3 different nationals. He kicked my *** every time. I do not know how Chavoor’s club worked, but our club had a head coach for the workouts and motivation, but we also had stroke technicians, who were all former national team swimmers. Yes they studied the newest stroke/kick techniques. But they knew what it was like to swin at the highest level. Swimming is more of a science, while IMO, hitting a baseball is an art. Not everybody does it the same way. What works best is what comes most natural. What is even more natural and cannot be taught at the professional level is hand/eye coordination. Sure JT changed his mechanics, but his big change was the lifting of his front leg which helped with his timing. But JT has outstanding hand/eye coordination and gets to the ball quick. Last year CT3 swung on a consistent plane, and if the ball was not in that plane he was not going to hit it.

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1. All that being said, I am going to reserve judgement on Mr. Scoyoc. As a Dodger fan, I can only hope and trust that Andrew & Co. has made the correct decision. He has a track record that is pretty darn good (again IMO). OTOH, my son has made up his mind. He would never go to Scoyoc for advice. He would go to other players and ask them. Hard headed and stubborn? Absolutely. However, he would have listened to Turner Ward as they were teammates in the Phillies organization.

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1. Last week I wrote about Giancarlo Stanton and devised a scenario that might get Stanton to LA without putting the team over the CBT threshold. I did not then and do not now believe that Andrew & Co. will make that trade for Giancarlo. It is just not who they are. What I left on the cutting room floor was:

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But if not Stanton, who? I understand people want Harper, and I am not sure why. Harper has had one absolutely phenomenal year (10.0 WAR), and then one at 5.2, one at 4.7, and one at 3.8, with three at 1.5 or below. Stanton has three at 5.4 to 7.6, two above 4.0, 1 at 3.8, and three at 2.6 to 2.8. None below 2.6.

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For a 162-game average: Harper – .279/.388/.512/.900 – 32 HR & 91 RBI. Stanton – .268/.358/.548/.905 – 43 HR & 109 RBI. 2018 Defensively – Harper DRS -26 & -14.4 UZR. Stanton DRS 5 & UZR 7.3. The cost of Harper will be more in total and AAV than Stanton.

Someone tell me again why Harper is better than Stanton?

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1. While I am an advocate for Kluber, it appears that it is going to be Trevor Bauer who is more likely to be traded. I am all on board for Trevor Bauer. He has two more years before FA He is from the Santa Clarita Valley, so he would undoubtedly like to stay home. He is a UCLA Bruin, and learned from an outstanding coach, John Savage. With Gerrit Cole, they formed a fantastic Friday/Saturday pitcher combo for UCLA on their WS championship run. He had the same HS coach as my son, and coincidentally as the Dodgers new hitting coach. He had a breakout year last year, and I think he could be on that proverbial ledge to becoming an Ace. He is a competitor that knows how to win. To me, Trevor is similar to Zach Wheeler in progress, except he has 2 years control remaining while Zach has 1.

Well, here’s what we (evidently) know about the Dodgers hiring Robert Van Scoyoca as hitting coach:

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1. [He] could be instrumental in making the Dodgers even more infuriatingly swing and miss in 2019

1. …what a frickin’ joke.

1. …more unwatchable and far from entertaining product.

1. … one of the things I really dislike about Friedman. You would think there is someone in the organization that is well qualified to be the hitting coach.

1. ….a 90+ loss season just might get ownership to change some direction as far as this FO goes.

1. …. he’s going to ruin Bellinger.

1. This is great! It will cost Friedman his job.

1. This team will be lucky to win 50 games.

1. No baseball player will respect him.

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Well, there you go – The Friedman Bashers have spoken (out of their a________ , as usual).

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I have no idea how this might work, but unless the world is flat, I think there is a possibility it could end up good.

Considering the Braves and Mariners are the most active teams this off-season, maybe they should match up for a trade.

did we pay this hitting coach with the million we saved from reworking freese’s contract?

I think we would all agree that if Van Scoyoc gets Austin Barnes to hit like JD Martinez or 2017 CT3, we could give a rat’s rear as to how he did it or that he didn’t play baseball beyond the JC level. As a long time Dodger fan, I still hold on to the fact(hope?) that Friedman, et al, know a whole lot more about what they’re doing than I do. Although, I must admit, there are times when I’m sitting in my recliner, with the remote in my right hand, enjoying a cold drink, watching a game, where I’m absolutely convinced that I know more about what’s going on in the game than those in the dugout do.

Funny to see these guys on MLBN talking about Robinson Cano like he has any real value left. Yes, he’s probably still a decent hitter but the combination of suspension stigma, aging, and ridiculous contract makes him someone teams would only target as a clear arbitrage play.

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I do wonder whether our front office has any “yes or no” player evaluation system or if anyone is in play at the right price.

This hitting instructor was a hitting consultant for the Dodgers for two years, before becoming the Dbacks instructor.

So the players probably already know this guy.

The Athletic has an interesting piece today. In part, it says:

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As the Dodgers explore a variety of moves, one rival executive notes the team rarely has been burned by trades of prospects since Andrew Friedman took over as president of baseball operations in October 2014….

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The lesson, according to the rival executive, is to proceed with caution when dealing with L.A. Friedman generally moves the right guys.

Taylor had 42 more strike outs then hits, last year.

He also struck out almost 31 percent of the time, when runners were in scoring position.

Taylor struck out more then any player in the National League last year too, and he isn’t exactly a power hitter.

Taylor only hit 17 HRs, with all of those strike outs.

Muncy had 26 more strike outs then hits, but he also hit 35 HRs.

Let’s hope this new hitting instructor can fix Taylor, because what Taylor did last year, is not good for any hitting instructor’s resume.

I wonder who the Red’s hitting instructor was last year?

Does anyone know the point of the Texas Rangers?

I’m warming to the idea of Muncy at 2b. He can be moved to 1b late in the game if needed and Bellinger can shift to CF. Playing Muncy at 2b solves a lot of problems for us: it gets his bat in the lineup; it lets Bellinger stay at 1b; and it potentially opens up an outfield spot for Verdugo.

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If I ran the zoo, I would be hoping that Taylor could reclaim the starting CF job. When he was at his best–the year he won the NLCS co-MVP–he played CF everyday and used his hustle, speed, and slashing bat to win us games. I’d like to see if he’s still capable of being that player. He’s also RH which is a plus in our LH-heavy lineup. Put him next to Puig in RF for one more go-around and let’s have some fun out there.

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That would essentially leave LF as the only true battle. Joc, Kemp, Verdugo, & Toles could fight for three jobs. Keekay would go back to being our #1 utility option, especially in the IF, where he would be joined by Freese and possibly a revigorated Barnes. Assuming no new additions, our lineup and bench would be set with the extra outfielder either traded or heading to AAA as insurance. That’s eight starters and five bench players.

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The rotation is where I see some problems. We need to find a home for Wood. Carrying him as a reliever is not an option to me and, at best, Wood is looking like our #5 starter right now, pushing Maeda, Stripling, Urias, Santana, & Ferguson to the pen. Not ideal. We can’t force trades on other teams but imagine a big part of our GM-less offseason will be waiting out the market and calling teams that miss out on free agent signings. Wood is no Corbin and Kemp is no Cruz, but we have some talent to spare.

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I’m getting eager for some moves but time is in our favor. As it stands we have enough talent right now to contend. It’s clear to me we’re targeting massive contracts unless they can traded for money we want off the books. The quieter we are, the more I think something major is being worked on. A tremor shifting underground that could alter the makeup of the terrain. A sound without cognate or origin. Either that or a cheap crappy back-up catcher.

Coaching is an interesting phenomenon. Here in Sacramento, we remember a swimming coach named Sherm Chavoor. He coached swimming at a local country club. He also coached a couple of swimmers you may have heard of – Mark Spitz and Debbie Meyers. Oh – and Sherm Chavoor couldn’t swim.

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I am usually a believer that only a guy who has actually performed the thing that he is trying to teach can really teach it. It’s not always true however. Some like Chavoor are expert motivators and come up with a new angle (so to speak – pun intended) that he can convey to help lead to success. (In Chavoor’s case, he had his swimmers swim longer distances while training, according to the NY Times.) So the question is, whether Van Scoyoc has the ability to motivate, to teach, and to bring the “new angle”, and whether he can earn the players’ trust and get them to listen. Mark me down as one who has his doubts, but I guess time will tell.

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I only hope that we won’t suffer through another year of poor situational/clutch hitting, inordinate strikeouts, the inability to adjust with everyone trying to hit another HR.

I could see the team making Van Scoyoc a minor league roving instructor or even an assistant batting coach, but to hire him as the main guy? Time will tell, I guess.

I predict that in 2019 the Dodgers will hit .354 as a team with a .411 OB% and 407 HR!

This would be awesome, make it happen!

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Except, Taylor plays second, Muncy 1B and Bellinger CF. Can we trade Verdugo instead of Puig???

Taylor 2B (R)

Seager SS (L)

Turner 3B (R)

Stanton LF (R)

Bellinger CF (L)

Puig RF (R)

Muncy 1B (L)

Gomes/Barnes (R)

I suggested a trade for Stanton a while back but I was including the Dodgers used to trade for Kemp. The Yankees have outfielders and need to lose one to fit in Harper unless they accept his defense at first base. I don’t think the Yanks would add Kemp to their 25 so if they do take Kemp, they would probably release him like Atlanta did Gonzales. The Dodgers could get him back for around $500,000.

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Seattle is a mess. Last in minor league system rankings and have a few bad contracts. They are trying to dump Cano. They need players. It would seem that Edwin Diaz could be had with low cost volume more than elite talent. Mun cy and Wong come to mind plus White, Alvarez types.

I am old, so I do not like the signing of Van Scoyoc. But, more importantly, what do the players think. I think it would be very hard to take instructions from someone who has hardly played any baseball. Just my opinion. I realize that a great player does not often make a good coach. However, there has to be some experience at the major league level. I am a risk taker, but this is beyond what I would do. When I was Superintendent of Schools, we went to the four day school week. It works for smaller schools.