Situational Hitting

[Ted]

One of the big things I hear lamented about is the lack of situational hitting ability in the big leagues today. I've heard various opinions about this. The one that resounds the most with me, is that it is largely a myth that players can hit differently based on situation. For those of you groaning, bear with me. The theory goes that at the big league level, you only have about a quarter of a second to see and react to a pitch. That quarter of a second is largely used for swing versus no swing. The rest is muscle memory. It is literally impossibly to make conscious decisions that quickly. So, situational hitting is therefore about before the pitch, which basically means its about approach and swing.

Back in the 80's, we saw a lot of players who had swings that took the ball the other way, or hit the ball on the ground. So when these guys maybe at most chocked up a bit in a certain situation, they already had a swing that would naturally do what was desired in a certain situation. Today's players have swings that are more prone to putting the the ball in the air and striking out. They just don't have a swing for "situational hitting". I don't think the players of yesteryear had multiple distinct swings either.

So the only thing you can really alter is approach, that is, the type of pitch you are looking for an plate discipline, etc. I suppose you could collect some data on this to see if players are adapting to different situations well, but then you're also asking them to change something they've more or less hard wired in their brain to allow them to pull a trigger on a swing in a quarter of a second.

Anyway, that's the argument that situational hitting at the big league level is largely a myth. It's based upon the idea that swinging at a pitch is pretty much not a conscious decision, and that swings are just different now. The only things you can really alter are approach and maybe choke up a bit.

The other argument is that players used to develop multiple hitting approaches and mindsets and swings, but now don't. As hard as it is to hit a baseball, I find this less likely, but I didn't play, so I really don't know. Anyway, I want to know if anyone has some good refined thoughts or resources that go into this more.

Lastly, its a joke that no one can bunt anymore. That IS a real lack of loss of an important skill. Historically the bunt was used questionably at times, but all of these dead pull power hitters should be bunting away from the shift. Even with their bad bunting skills, they're getting on base over 50% of the time when they do it.

[7teen]

Im going to have to tie this into the other post I made...

I think it's the new guys philosophy to always drive the baseball regardless of count or situation. You're looking to do damage all the regardless of siutation. If you strike out then so be it. And with the mindset of "doing damage", the bunt doesn't come into play. The hitting guy I talked about in the other thread is ANTI BUNT all the time. Never bunt. Period. Always do damage. And I always take offense to that because my son is an excellent bunter. I just wish he was faster. My son lays down a suicide squeeze at least once a week against an unsuspecting opponent. And since he's not physically strong and since he hits from the left side of the plate, we use the bunt to draw in the infield to create more holes on the other side for when he does swing away.

And for your situational hitting, I can understand your argument on the pro level since reaction time is severely limited. I can't imagine trying to hit a ball period against the major league talent. But at the younger level I think there is situational approaches. I coach my kids that with 0 or 1 strikes to be aggressive and try to hit the baseball hard. We can't hit homeruns at our age due to the field size but still try to rip it. But if there are runners on and you get two strikes, your approach changes. I tell my guys to widen their stance a little or get their foot down earlier so they don't get a fast ball blown by them. And stay more balanced so we can get the ball in play. I hate strike outs at the younger levels because anything can happen on a ball in play. I don't ever want a weak ground ball, but I hate it on a 2-0 pitch but can live with it if there is a runner on 3rd and you have two strikes on you and it gets the run in.

[Ted]

I think this kind of had to tie into your other post. I probably oversimplified. The situational hitting is a myth thing is probably more related to the idea that a player can try to hit the ball the other way, or try to hit behind the runner, or try to hit the ball in the air. That just seems really unlikely. What the player can do is change the type of pitch he's looking for (i.e. change the approach) to look for one that it's easier to do that particular thing with dependent on that player's particular swing. Or they can expand their swing zone to protect with two strikes. Or they can be more selective with 2-0 counts. The question still remains then is this a good idea at the big league level? Is varying your approach more effective then just doing the thing you are best at? I'm not sure it is for a lot of players. Then the question becomes is that because they didn't learn to, or because some guys just can't do it?

The other question I wonder about with "situational hitting" is how much of it has been eliminated by pitchers. That is, with a runner on third and less than 2 outs, I don't throw anything that can be hit in the air as easily. In obvious bunting situations, you get a bunch of pitches at your eyes. I remember pitchers just used to throw right down the middle if the guy was showing bunt. Basically just took the out. Now you get a bunch of high strikes and breaking stuff.