The Scouting Report

Clare told me she’s been following ex-Sox Nicky Delmonico on Twitter; Delmonico is a non-roster invitee to spring training with the Sox.  “He’s been talking about how he’s trained all off-season and how strong he is.  But I wonder if he did anything with his swing.”

 

Truth be told, the left-handed hitting Delmonico has himself a beautiful swing.  I’m serious.  The problem is that it’s the same swing for fast balls, curves, sliders and changeups.  And it’s a swing that only covers one, small section of the plate.  Delmonico has a good eye, sometimes, and will get a walk, which is always better than a strikeout or a popup.  What he needs to do is actually see the ball in the strike zone and hit it where it’s pitched, not where he’d like it to be.

 

Here’s the thing that really gets me—my daughter sees this plain and clear, without the help of video equipment.  Right now, there are a couple of female hitting coaches, one for the Cubs and one for the Yankees, working in the minor leagues.  They’re part of the new wave of coaching, which appears to be very reliant—or dependent—on equipment.  I think a lot of players in the years to come are going to hear about how the camera doesn’t lie.

 

But will it allow players to reach their full potential?  Of that, I’m not so sure.  As I’ve said numerous times, give me the late Bill Robinson for a hitting coach because Robinson believed, “A good hitting instructor is able to mold his teachings to the individual.”  And, yes, it meant that, “If a guy stands on his head, you perfect that.”  I can’t help but think the new-wave hitting coaches, both male and female, are going to turn into Walt Hriniak clones, preaching the same swing for everyone based on video “evidence.”

 

I got me a girl who looks at hitting the way Bill Robinson did, only she ain’t in the business.  But maybe she got word to Nicky Delmonico.  He went three-for-three yesterday against the Dodgers.