00:00It lends itself to thinking that there's a concerted effort out there
00:02to go out there and take more pitches,
00:04but it also shows that maybe there's a lot of thinking going on
00:08at the plate for them.
00:09Is that part of the issue?
00:10Are they thinking too much up there?
00:11Like, it sounds silly, but are they just not going up there
00:14and doing what they have to do?
00:17You're so in my wheelhouse here,
00:20because I'm a big believer in confidence in any sport.
00:25When you have it, it's magic.
00:27When you don't, you suck.
00:29And when you talk about thinking as a hitter,
00:37like, you know, Charlie Manuel used to say, empty head, full bat.
00:41You can definitely overthink things as a hitter
00:45and be susceptible to paralysis by analysis.
00:50I hear the expression swing decision all the time in today's game,
00:55and it makes me want to puke,
00:56because hitting is not decisions.
00:59It's reactions, and there is a subtle difference.
01:02So, you know, you should be locked in and react to a pitch you can hit.
01:07You shouldn't decide.
01:08That takes too long.
01:09So, I do think there is, I know there is a more, and I hate the word patience as well,
01:17because you get a meatball down the middle on the first pitch, screw patience.
01:22You should unload on it.
01:23But I do believe in the word selectivity.
01:26Know what pitches you can handle and be selective.
01:30I'm not into patience and waiting and sitting there and, you know,
01:35like thumbing through pitches and trying to get, you know, you get a good one.
01:38You should be unloading on it.
01:40But you should be selective, meaning if it's not, you know,
01:44depending on where you are on the count, if it's not where you're zoning in on,
01:48that's where you lay off it.
01:50You don't chase outside of the zone.
01:51You are a selective hitter, and you unload on the pitches you can handle.
01:55So, I do think they made a concerted effort in spring training to not chase as much,
02:01and that all kind of fits in with selectivity and patience,
02:04whatever you want to call it.
02:05And maybe they're being a little too passive at times.
02:09But I also see an awful lot of swing and miss, too.
02:12So, especially last night.
02:15I mean, you know, you look at the Cubs pitcher, he set like a world record.
02:18I think he had 26 swing and misses.
02:20I mean, that just can't happen.
02:23And, you know, some of that is I think you're guessing, you lack confidence,
02:28and you're not swinging at the right pitches.
02:30So, you know, he's a guy almost like Quintana who can get you to chase stuff
02:34off the plate in Managa.
02:36He was very good last night.
02:37So, the offense, they spend a lot of time talking about this stuff, approach.
02:43They spend a ton of time talking about it, maybe too much.
02:46And it takes sort of the natural feel out of hitting.
02:50We might be seeing that right now.
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