MLB Central AWESOME Breakdown of Anthony Rizzo
When Chicago Cubs first baseman, Anthony Rizzo is right, there aren’t many swings today that are smoother. You may hear things about foot down, which is a timing mechanism for hitters, a foot down too late can put the best swings into funks. This is what was happening a bit with Rizzo in the first three weeks of the season. But when he gets that foot down, it times everything in his swing and allows for a smooth path to the ball inside, outside, or wherever a pitcher may put it. A delay in that foot getting down and the hitter is rushing everything else in his swing path.
Mark DeRosa and Carlos Pena, two former Cubs, breakdown Rizzo’s swing and why it looks so damned good right now.
At the end of the Rizzo segment, just before they talk about Mookie Betts, the question of Kris Bryant came up. Bryant, who has struggled, has really turned things around as well. In watching the past two weeks, he’s ironed out several mechanical issues which have leveled his bat head (yes, he still has a slight uppercut swing and no, he’s not changing that) and is creating a lot of hard, loud contact.
Throughout these past couple weeks Bryant has fallen victim to bad luck. Several balls he’s hit have had expected averages of .600+ and even high .700’s that have fallen into defenders hands. His BABIP of .260, where .300 is league average and his career mark is .341, suggests he’s hitting balls to where they are instead of where they ain’t. Even in his injury plagued season of 2018, Bryant’s BABIP was .342, so there’s something to this here.
Back to Rizzo… right now he is perfectly in tune at the plate. I’ve always taught it to younger hitters as the dance between the pitcher and hitter. If the pitcher is ahead of the hitter, it won’t go well. If the hitter is ahead of the pitcher, it likely won’t go well. When the hitter is on time with the pitcher, the ball will be properly struck.
