Is new Nate McLouth for real real or for play play?
Video please!
Screen shots please!
Just from the above we can see:
Problems:
- Called out on strikes
- Late on fastballs, early on curveballs/any off speed pitch
- Bad timing
Improvements:
- Swinging with 2 strikes
- Bending knees to reach low pitches, and not just dropping the barrel of the bat
- Closer to the plate, reaching more pitches
- Seeing better
- Starting his swing earlier
And the stats ain’t lying neither.
Since being called up to the major league 26 plate appearances ago, McLouth has raked an astonishing .381/.440/.810/1.250 line with one double, one triple, two homeruns, and (count it!) one strikeout.
To compare, in the first half of the season, he’s hit .176/.295/.282/.577 with three homeruns, and 26 walks to his 46 strikeouts. Then in July and August he sucked some more.
I don’t think anyone expects McLouth to continue his torrid pace until the end of the season. Finishing the season with an overall September line of .270/.360/430/.790 and a couple more dingers sure sounds nice to me.
He’s for real real for now, we still have a lot to see and he still has a lot to prove.
Possibly more to come.
And if you haven’t already, go sign The Official “Get Rid of Melky Cabrera Petition: if you hate Cabrera’s fielding as much as I do.