*Guest Blogger* Al Becker talks about his approach at the plate.
Blogger Bio
Al Becker has been playing in local amateur leagues for the last 10 years. He was most recently a member of the Yawkey Baseball League 2008 Champion Bluefish Baseball Club, for which he hit .402 and won the Silver Slugger in right field. Becker finished the 2008 YBL season in the top 10 in almost all offensive categories.
What is your approach at the plate?
While I do focus on hitting up the middle, I think as I’ve gotten older, 37 now, and a veteran of more than 10 seasons in the MABL and YBL, my offensive game has improved with an increase in pulling the ball.
Of course we are all taught to hit the ball back from where it came, which is up the middle — at the pitcher. That theory often worked for me, especially when I’ve got the count to a point where I think a breaking ball might be coming. I’ve never tried to pull the breaking ball. But early in counts, especially last year, when I felt confident and strong, I was looking to pull the fastball….just reacting.
How do you practice your hitting?
I am a big fan of the Iron Mike machine during the season, especially when I have a few days off between games. Even before games it’s helpful. Success to me in the Iron Mike cage is hearing the loud bang when I hit a liner off the machine.
I see guys in the cage taking violent rips and pulling everything into the screen. Instead, in the cage I focus on shortening my swing, waiting as long as I can on every pitch, and going back up the middle. I also like to move my feet around and focus on hitting pitches from the middle out, the opposite way.
What are the keys to hitting the ball up the middle?
- Waiting on the ball as long as you can.
- Keeping your head (your body follows) on the ball and staying back.
- Getting the correct pitch. I can’t hit an inside fastball back at the pitcher, my hands aren’t quick enough to wait and do that. Look middle out.
Good stuff AB- and congrats on all the success in the ‘08 season! We all know few work harder on it than you do.
I’ve always been sort of a middle-out hitter myself. That’s where my line drives and extra base hits would usually go. When I notice myself getting into a slump, nine times out of ten I would be grounding out weakly to the left side of the infield. To break the slump, the only thing I try to do was to hit a line drive up the middle and knock the pitcher’s cap off. As soon as a I get a hit like that, my slump is cured.
The last point is a great one, Al. It’s so important to understand what pitches you can handle at the plate. When the count is in your favor as a hitter, that’s the time when you can look for the ball in certain locations. If you see a strike coming in towards the inside corner and you don’t hit that pitch well, just let it go. You have three strikes. Make the most of them.
As a pitcher, this article definitely strikes a cord with me. In a pitcher’s mind, there is no hitter more dangerous than the one that can hit the ball hard to all fields able to hit all locations. When I notice a hitter has been struggling (via stats or even in a single game), I focus on the outside corner of the plate because a hitter’s tendency is to get “quick” when he’s in a slump. Outside corner + quick bat = weak grounder to left side. If a hitter proves to me in a game that he can hit the outside pitch on a line to the opposite side, it forces me to pitch to the whole plate, resulting in more mistakes because I’m trying to move the ball around more. Reasons why Al was a .400 hitter last year!