Friday, April 25, 2008

Better Approach

The FIRE LENNY!!!! Chorus got a reprieve while they were running the Hudson/Smoltz/Santana gauntlet. No fair blaming him for something the rest of the league can't usually do against them.

But they certainly looked like a new team out there yesterday. I didn't see those lazy opposite-field swings. And the six walks shows they were grinding out ABs. Perez threw 100 pitches in 5+ innings, another good sign. Now some of that is facing a wild pitcher, but it's also a sign that there seemed to be some sort of approach, a plan of attack.

At the same time, think back to the biggest hits in the game. They pulled the freakin' ball for once, and the results showed. They went WITH the pitches instead of trying to aim their hits. The other good sign was all the shots (and this has been true for the last few games) back through the box and up the middle. When you're looking to turn on something for power, it's that soft stuff and those away pitches that you can adjust to and line back through the pitcher's gut.

All good signs, and maybe an indication that Lenny's getting his ass in gear? Or just one of those things? Everyone coming out of a slump together, facing a so-so pitcher. The next week or two'll help answer those.

posted by Chris Needham at 8:25 AM

11 Comments:

  • The most promising news from last night's game (which I did not follow, only highlights this morning) was that in order to get a Grand Salami you need 3 men on base first. Any smchmo can get lucky and hit a dinger, but the fact that they loaded the bases tells me that they were either patient, good, or lucky in some combination. That's promising.

    By Blogger Bote Man, at 4/25/2008 9:03 AM  

  • I see things the opposite way: The Nats have placed plenty of runners on base, but until last night the couldn't pull the trigger. It was actually pleasing to see Zimmerman drive in a run with an infield ground out!

    Now, when can we start discussing a BenchKearns.com website? Can Willie Harris play RF? How about Dukes?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/25/2008 9:46 AM  

  • Kearns is starting to drive the ball a bit more, so there's some hope that he'll snap out of it.

    He scorched a ball last night, that Wright made a Zimmerman-like play to snare. Sensational play that took away a hit.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 4/25/2008 9:47 AM  

  • Kearns hit the ball hard twice, and is making solid contact lately. Plus he is walking a lot and playing gold glove right field.

    But, Zimmerman was only able to get the rbi groundout because FLop was running. See, another run created by FLop.

    By Blogger Natsfan74, at 4/25/2008 10:00 AM  

  • I think Zim has a 90% red light on the first pitch. Zim hasn't swung at the first pitch, strike or not, this week. Compare that to last week vs the Mets when he had several 1 pitch at bats. He's seen more pitches in 2 at bats the last few games than he saw in entire games last week.

    I'm hoping that Manny's talk about not swinging at all strikes got through.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/25/2008 10:09 AM  

  • Hitting the ball the other way is not always bad. "Going with the pitch" does not mean always pulling. It depends where the pitch is. "Going with" an outside pitch is hitting it the other way. Good hitters take what the pitch gives them, which means sometimes pulling, sometimes going the other way. The problem starts when you try to pull a ball outside or take an inside pitch the other way - when you try to do what you want regardless of what the pitch is offering you.

    I think what is frustrating so many of you is that often times when you go the other way you have less power. That does not, however, mean you are wrong to try to go the other way with certain pitches.

    By the way, Lenny hasn't changed his approach. Two nights ago on the broadcast (I believer you were at the game, Chris), they showed Lenny in the cages at the tees early that day working with guys on hitting the ball the other way. He, along with many hitting coaches, see that as the quickest way of breaking a slump.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 4/25/2008 10:29 AM  

  • You're right. I don't mean that they should NEVER hit the other way. It's just that that was what they were emphasizing. They were hitting as if they were looking to go away first, which is the wrong approach.

    Combine that with the "any strike is a good strike to hit" approach, and it's been brutal.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 4/25/2008 10:39 AM  

  • OK, so maybe I'm crazy but...

    My 6 month old is kind of starting to make words. She's saying something that sounds like "dahn-dahn-dahn." My wife is very sweetly insisting that she's trying to say "Da Da."

    But if you listen really close, I'll be damned if it doesn't sound like she's saying "dump Bowden."

    By Blogger Steven, at 4/25/2008 10:54 AM  

  • Sounds like the SportsCenter theme to me.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/25/2008 11:35 AM  

  • Enough about a good day. Even a blind squirel has a few.

    What I really want to know is how come the HD on Channel 20 is A TON better than the "view it through a fishbowl" of MASN's other broadcast options.

    MASN....you truly have found a way to suck and blow at the same time.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/25/2008 12:51 PM  

  • According to Pat -- a guy who sits three seats down from me -- Jose Reyes' error in the 7th inning passed on the "cooties" that the Nats were infected with in Philadelphia. As you can tell, Pat coaches the very young.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/25/2008 4:30 PM  

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