"A New York Treasure" --Village Voice

The Art(s) of Hitting

Or science(s), if you prefer.

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Jacoby Ellsbury, quiet, balanced and deadly quick, is a joy to watch at the plate. He’s in the middle of a tear right now and you can count on three line blistered drives a night, but even when he’s not scorching, the swing is still a thing of beauty.

It’s a stark constrast to his partner in the outfield and atop the lineup. When Brett Gardner came up I had never seen a worse swing from a Major League player. He’d often lose his bat into the stands, flinging it further than the balls he hit. But Gardner’s swing evolved as he slowly added pull-power to an already useful profile.

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Look into their numbers and you’ll be there all day (I mean, if you go for that sort of thing and you have some free time, I’m endorsing frivolous procrastination or anything) as you compare and contrast all their different methods to skin the same cat. The cursory glance reveals Ellsbury to have more power, but that’s purely a shadow of the Green Monster.

Ellsbury makes more contact than Gardner, for good and for bad. Fewer whiffs but fewer walks as well. Despite a higher batting average for Ellsbury, Gardner actually gets on base just as often. Neither needs a platoon partner and of course, they have the wheels. But by appearance, you’d never mistake one for the other. Especially the follow-thru. Gardner’s one-handed, full-extenstion epee flick versus Ellsbury’s balanced, two-handed broad-sword sweep.

Their swings may be “beauty and the blech” but the results are damn similar (a good lesson to observers who like me, tend make a quick judgment on who can and cannot hit by the shape of their swing). And when they click like this, they’re an especially annoying echo chamber for the opposition. And Yankees are going to win a lot of games.

Like last night. Ellsbury and Gardner reached base five times between them and scored three runs. That alone should have been enough for the Yankees, but in between a strong 8-inning outing from Michael Pineda and a final out from Andrew Miller, David Carpenter got smeared for three runs. No matter though, as the Yankees had three more in their pocket and won 6-3.

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And now I return you to your regularly scheduled host, Alex Belth. Thanks to Alex and all of you for letting me fill up the space this week. I will head back to twin forges of Little League and Pee Wee Soccer coaching and emerge at the end of June hoping to see the Yankees doing what they’re doing. Playing solid, winning baseball. The only difference is that I won’t be so surprised anymore.

 

Ellsbury Photo by Brad Penner via USA Today and NJ.com

Gardner Photo by AP via Newsday.com

Categories:  1: Featured  Game Recap  Jon DeRosa  Yankees

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6 comments

1 Ben   ~  May 6, 2015 9:18 am

Thanks Jon, always a pleasure to have you hosting.

Funny about gardner's swing; it always been my favorite part of his game. It just looks like what any of us would have to do trying to hit 90 mph fastballs.... Don't get me started on his lack of base stealing however. He's got natural speed! Ferchrissakes Run!

2 GaryfromChevyChase   ~  May 6, 2015 10:18 am

Excellent write up.

3 Ara Just Fair   ~  May 6, 2015 10:22 am

Thanks, Jon. Good stuff as always. It blows my mind that this is Gardner's 8th season with the Yankees. Modamn! And his swing is still horrendous. lol...

4 bp1   ~  May 6, 2015 10:26 am

When Gardy became a regular, I was sure his swing would not hold up. It always seemed like he was swinging the bat while wearing roller skates and the goal was just to stay upright. Every hit seemed a bit miraculous. But here we are. I can't explain it.

5 weeping for brunnhilde   ~  May 6, 2015 3:53 pm

I love your musings here, Jon, thanks!

6 weeping for brunnhilde   ~  May 6, 2015 3:55 pm

[3] Wow, eighth, really???

How the time doth fly.

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"This ain't football. We do this every day."
--Earl Weaver