It's hard to say why our players do it so often. It happens to every player at some point in time- whether you're Babe Ruth or Bob Jones. It happens. It's obviously a cardinal sin in the game.
Why does it happen?
Sometimes you have to tip your cap/helmet to the pitcher. You may get a nasty Bob Gibson slider, and you bail out and there's nothing you can do about it. As far as MSU, that is not the case. It seems like we are letting fastballs down the middle go by. I'm sure that is extremely frustrating for the players and Cohen and Burroughs and fans like me. It's just not good baseball.
What a hitter has to do with two strikes is expand the zone a little bit. If a pitch is even remotely close, you have to swing and protect the plate. If you can't hit it, try to foul it off. At least get the bat on the ball. A weak ground ball is better than just looking at a pitch go by because you force the team to make a play- and there's a chance that they might screw it up, or if the hitter puts the ball in play, there is a high likelihood that something good will happen- like move a runner up a base or something like that. You might even get a hit.
The other main problem with hitters that get caught looking a lot is they are not comfortable at the plate. I think that this is more of our problem right now. One very simple thing that a lot of hitters do with two strikes is choke up on the bat a little bit so that they can control the bat better. Doing this can sometimes make a hitter more comfortable as well. Cohen talked last week about hitting and confidence- I think is a factor into being comfortable at the plate as well. I'm not sure why our players are not comfortable. It probably varies from player to player. Some of these players under Polk had a style where they tried to work the count a lot to try to get the pitch count up, and get into the bullpen. The problem with that is it makes you passive as a hitter sometimes. And you also have to remember that during an at bat, a hitter is going to see only so many pitches to hit- usually one and maybe two if the hitter is lucky. If you "miss your pitch to hit", it could be a very difficult at bat. When you get your pitch, you have to attack the ball. And yes, it is easier said than done. Some of the problem is we have JUCO guys that are trying to adjust to D-I pitching. They are used to being more selective because in general, the JUCO pitchers had less control than the pitchers that they are facing now. They are used to getting more pitches to hit, and/or pitchers that are more wild than what they are currently going up against. And then we have Conner Powers who is a very good player. Some of the players are probably pressing because I think all of them want to play, but yet I think there is a fear that a lot of them have of being sat down on the bench for poor performance, and so they are pressing. They have one bad at bat, and it snowballs from there. And yes, while I think it is silly, some of them may have a fear of being yelled at to.
Besides choking up, how do you fix it?
There is a drill where you have your hitters line-up and it is assumed that they have an 0-2 count. What they are to do is put the bat on the ball- doesn't matter if they foul it off or hit a home run. When they miss a pitch, they go to the back of the line and the next guy in line does the same thing and so on. The coach is supposed to throw the ball in a variety of places where it is hard to get the bat on the ball. This is a drill that we may already do- I do not know. It is fairly common.
Another thing I would do if I were Cohen is have a team meeting to clear the air so to speak with the entire team tommorrow before the game. And basically I would ask the team- "What do we need to do as a coaching staff to help you hit better?" And I would preface that by saying that I really want honest answers and that nothing is going to be affected by what is said in that meeting be it playing time or anything else. If the players say that yelling and cussing isn't working for them, I would stop (for this season). If they say that it is fear of losing playing time, fear of the fans, or whatever it is I would try to adjust to their needs as best as I could.
I think just having a meeting like that might help them relax in and of itself.
Why does it happen?
Sometimes you have to tip your cap/helmet to the pitcher. You may get a nasty Bob Gibson slider, and you bail out and there's nothing you can do about it. As far as MSU, that is not the case. It seems like we are letting fastballs down the middle go by. I'm sure that is extremely frustrating for the players and Cohen and Burroughs and fans like me. It's just not good baseball.
What a hitter has to do with two strikes is expand the zone a little bit. If a pitch is even remotely close, you have to swing and protect the plate. If you can't hit it, try to foul it off. At least get the bat on the ball. A weak ground ball is better than just looking at a pitch go by because you force the team to make a play- and there's a chance that they might screw it up, or if the hitter puts the ball in play, there is a high likelihood that something good will happen- like move a runner up a base or something like that. You might even get a hit.
The other main problem with hitters that get caught looking a lot is they are not comfortable at the plate. I think that this is more of our problem right now. One very simple thing that a lot of hitters do with two strikes is choke up on the bat a little bit so that they can control the bat better. Doing this can sometimes make a hitter more comfortable as well. Cohen talked last week about hitting and confidence- I think is a factor into being comfortable at the plate as well. I'm not sure why our players are not comfortable. It probably varies from player to player. Some of these players under Polk had a style where they tried to work the count a lot to try to get the pitch count up, and get into the bullpen. The problem with that is it makes you passive as a hitter sometimes. And you also have to remember that during an at bat, a hitter is going to see only so many pitches to hit- usually one and maybe two if the hitter is lucky. If you "miss your pitch to hit", it could be a very difficult at bat. When you get your pitch, you have to attack the ball. And yes, it is easier said than done. Some of the problem is we have JUCO guys that are trying to adjust to D-I pitching. They are used to being more selective because in general, the JUCO pitchers had less control than the pitchers that they are facing now. They are used to getting more pitches to hit, and/or pitchers that are more wild than what they are currently going up against. And then we have Conner Powers who is a very good player. Some of the players are probably pressing because I think all of them want to play, but yet I think there is a fear that a lot of them have of being sat down on the bench for poor performance, and so they are pressing. They have one bad at bat, and it snowballs from there. And yes, while I think it is silly, some of them may have a fear of being yelled at to.
Besides choking up, how do you fix it?
There is a drill where you have your hitters line-up and it is assumed that they have an 0-2 count. What they are to do is put the bat on the ball- doesn't matter if they foul it off or hit a home run. When they miss a pitch, they go to the back of the line and the next guy in line does the same thing and so on. The coach is supposed to throw the ball in a variety of places where it is hard to get the bat on the ball. This is a drill that we may already do- I do not know. It is fairly common.
Another thing I would do if I were Cohen is have a team meeting to clear the air so to speak with the entire team tommorrow before the game. And basically I would ask the team- "What do we need to do as a coaching staff to help you hit better?" And I would preface that by saying that I really want honest answers and that nothing is going to be affected by what is said in that meeting be it playing time or anything else. If the players say that yelling and cussing isn't working for them, I would stop (for this season). If they say that it is fear of losing playing time, fear of the fans, or whatever it is I would try to adjust to their needs as best as I could.
I think just having a meeting like that might help them relax in and of itself.