baseball 101 day 3

[fletcher]

major major mistake in the 8th inning by burnitz, you have baseloaded 1 out and a weak slap hitter at the plate and you are only down 1 run + you only have 6 outs left and count is 1-2,well tailing fly ball towards right field stands with a guy who runs ok at 3rd. you let the ball fall fou and hope for the strike out because you have a pitcher that can do it or hope for a double play or infield fly,you don't catch the ball he was running at an angle and was pinned against wall and behind the bullpin area ,yes he has a great arm but there is noway to square up and throw the guy out at home,that put them down 2 runs and the cubs have left guys on all year.

with only 6 outs left 1 run is still workable it gives you opitions,but being down 2 makes it a lot harder to be able to work with,because the key number is outs,you really can't trade and out to move a guy over down 2 runs with 1 you still can take that chance. so that is a case of not thinking ahead if ball is hit foul and up against wall i said before a coach and a player has to think 3 pitches ahead and know what and how the will react,

game is not over but that extra run on a day with wind coming stright in is worth at least 3 to 4 runs for cubs insted of 2. very bad mistake, yes they can still win but he has taken away any options except scoring 2 runs with only 3 outs so hitting is the only option and nothing else. major mistake,thats a mental mistake,physical mistakes happen but the mental mistakes cost you games.

 

[wigs]

was wondering why he caught that also , fletch...good pt

 

[njsammy]

Being a long time Mets fan, their fundamentals stink! Try watching Ordonez attempt a bunt, Cedeno or Payton missing cut-off men by 3 feet over there heads. I was listening on radio saying the count is 1-2, Davis throwing hard and thought for sure he would let it fall! Even announcers questioned why he caught it! The guy batting was up for the 1st time this year! Valentine should ring all their necks and make them watch some fundamental videos! They don't even take the extra base when throw goes home! :shrug:

 

[west coast guru]

halos

halos

Fletch do not know if you have seen these guys yet, but their hitting is awful. They have four guys hitting under .200 and they have so many hitting flaws at the plate right now. They are not getting their hands through on the fast balls and are out on their front foot on the curve ball. They are also reaching for the outside pitches. I watched one guy take his normal stride on a fastball and then on a curve he took a huge stride and dropped his back side. Another guy was opening up his hips way to early on a curveball. Well just wanted to add this and hope it helps. I do not have a lot of time now coaching baseball, but I got a break in the schedule and was able to catch an angel game. I am sure you have been on seattle the last two games. I will continue to bet big against the halos until they make some fundamental adjustments at the plate. It does not help that glaus is out either. From what I saw a decent pitcher should have absolutely no problem shutting down the angels at this point in the season. They are in a funk. Well hope this helps and the angels do not go out and score big and make me look like an asshole.

 

[west coast guru]

angels 101b

angels 101b

These guys are simple not making no adjustments at the plate. It is one thing to be struggling and another to be taking some ugly swings. They need to go heavily back to the soft toss and tee work for about 2 hours a day. The need to fix their swings and live bp and game situations will not get it done. Personally I think they need to fire the hitting coach. Not just because they are struggling, but because the guys are not making adjustments. Maybe it is not his fault, but they look worse than a lot of good college programs. Anybody been to a angel game and saw the rally monkey this year. That is the coolest game. I guess they have not got any on base to bring out the monkey. Well just some more input. I will be at the angel mariner game again tomorrow and will once again be betting big against the halos. I think some of my highschool pitchers could shut these guys down right now. I will report back again tomorrow to let you know if the angel hitters are still showing the same flaws.

 

[fletcher]

i saw him at the end of last year he is great. i had a lot higher hopes for angels,your right they need to work on the hitting basics. i still think they can compete but they have to hit,will see in the next 3 weeks because once 2nd week of may comes around,teams will have a read and so should the handicapper,you will have enough stats to be useful for coaching and handicapping. them and the rangers better hope they don't get to far back by then also i ran across a stat late today mariners were 10-0 against angels on the road there last 10 games and have out scored them by 4-1 almost,i saw it on espn during the gaints game. now its 11-0

 

[west coast guru]

Fletch you probably know a lot more about baseball than I do. So I will take your word that hatcher is a good hitting coach. I just know every since rod carew left the team hitting for the angels has been down. It seems to me some of the guys are actually getting worse. I know carew was a great hitting coach and I do not know if hatcher is of that caliber. I had the opportunity to talk to a pro scout today and we got talking about the angels and their hitting. I asked his professional opinion and he was on agreement that hatcher is not a great hitting coach and no where in the caliber of rod. Like I said I will continue to bet big against the angels until they turn their hitting woes around. Watching them again tonight and I see very little improvement from tuesday. However they do have 4 runs tonight with glaus back in the lineup. If you check it out anderson and Salmon are both 0-3 and in a major funk. Their is great value in betting against the angels until salmon and anderson get going. Erstad is also in a funk. Until these guys get it going their is no reason or value to bet on the angels.

 

[west coast guru]

Just got back from the angel game and once again a great night. The angels are now 1-7 at home and I look for the losing to continue. Check out their 3-4-5 hitters pathetic. The only two guys hitting are molina and eckstein. Once again the swings look like crap and either the hitting coach sucks or these guys are not coachable. Stick a fork in them right now. The angels are done. They will be lucky to be a .500 club. You can not give away games like this at home. It is hard enough to win on the road. Bet against these guys until they learn how to hit. Good night and I will keep you updated on the angles and let you know when the bats start to turn around.