One, the outfield has been bad. The bench has been bad. The bullpen has been bad. But they're, as you said, the reason the team won this game. Baseball!
Second, that is at least the second time the broadcast has highlighted a drastic shift in MJ Melendez's stance this year and I want to say at least the third or fourth time since he became a regular big leaguer. I have said since last year that his swing is too complicated and awkward to ever be successful on a regular basis at the big league level. These constant, drastic changes just convince me further.
I really wish they had traded him over the off-season after he had had a successful second half and his value was probably as high as it was ever going to get. If he's ever going to succeed I think it's going to have to involve a complete overhaul of his swing. I'm kind of hoping the Royals find someone who thinks they can fix his swing and can swap him for someone they think they have a better shot of fixing.
The great thing about this game is when multiple guys you don’t expect to show, actually show! Baseball indeed.
I’m with you on the Melendez swing. As the Royals themselves acknowledged, there’s a lot going on there. Any kind of revamp is going to take some time. Almost a piece by piece reconstruction. He can’t possible accomplish that while still on the active roster.
Right on, send MJ down. They need to get him some help. Probably mental as well as mechanical. He probably feels just as bad going to the plate as the fans do. He has to know he is going to make an out and how frustrating could that be. Please KC management, get MJ some help. He is absolutely one of my favorite players. Help!!
Yes. A mechanical and mental reset. It feels like that’s the only way out of this funk. If there’s a way out. Hoping for you (since he’s one of your favorites) there is.
With MJ I’m beginning to sense a reluctance on his part, like Singer and the third pitch, to take club coaching. I know his Dad is a collegiate coach and he works with him in the offseason. There maybe a solution somewhere there if communication between the club and the Dad were explored?
True enough now, but it’s taken 2 plus years of inconsistency at the MLB level (and 3 plus more at the minor league level) for those changes to even start. He’s had that odd stance and exaggerated step-in throughout his time in professional ball.
Well said. Rather than uncoachable I should have said “which coach is he listening to.”His Dad has been his major influence all his life and it’s hard to let go of that. But maybe that’s what is needed at this point.
Multiple, competing voices are usually not great. Especially when one is your father who undoubtedly helped you get to this point. But teams are letting guys go outside the org looking for coaching whether it’s a place like Driveline or a hitting lab. Things can get complicated, but there’s a way to balance all this instruction. I hope for Melendez’s sake they can get this sorted out.
I agree MJ could use some AAA at bats but I do like the idea of moving his hands up higher in his stance. With his hands starting low he had no chance on pitches in the upper third of the strike zone.
I can get behind that, but even that kind of adjustment feels radical to unleash in the middle of the season. Maybe I’m wrong. I’m willing to be wrong.
Regarding Melendez, technically he is way off. His hands actually move backwards when he is striding forward. While this isn’t altogether that uncommon, it is a problem with him. He has very little time to get the bat to the desired point of contact. When guys go bad, I always coached to give yourself time (with the hands) and think middle. Hands hi or low are not the problem, it’s are they back in time to enable extension. With MJ, I think not.
I think we’re seeing that bear out in his recent run of results. So many moving parts, it has to be incredibly difficult to adjust just one or two movements. The whole thing can unravel.
Two points.
One, the outfield has been bad. The bench has been bad. The bullpen has been bad. But they're, as you said, the reason the team won this game. Baseball!
Second, that is at least the second time the broadcast has highlighted a drastic shift in MJ Melendez's stance this year and I want to say at least the third or fourth time since he became a regular big leaguer. I have said since last year that his swing is too complicated and awkward to ever be successful on a regular basis at the big league level. These constant, drastic changes just convince me further.
I really wish they had traded him over the off-season after he had had a successful second half and his value was probably as high as it was ever going to get. If he's ever going to succeed I think it's going to have to involve a complete overhaul of his swing. I'm kind of hoping the Royals find someone who thinks they can fix his swing and can swap him for someone they think they have a better shot of fixing.
The great thing about this game is when multiple guys you don’t expect to show, actually show! Baseball indeed.
I’m with you on the Melendez swing. As the Royals themselves acknowledged, there’s a lot going on there. Any kind of revamp is going to take some time. Almost a piece by piece reconstruction. He can’t possible accomplish that while still on the active roster.
Right on, send MJ down. They need to get him some help. Probably mental as well as mechanical. He probably feels just as bad going to the plate as the fans do. He has to know he is going to make an out and how frustrating could that be. Please KC management, get MJ some help. He is absolutely one of my favorite players. Help!!
Yes. A mechanical and mental reset. It feels like that’s the only way out of this funk. If there’s a way out. Hoping for you (since he’s one of your favorites) there is.
With MJ I’m beginning to sense a reluctance on his part, like Singer and the third pitch, to take club coaching. I know his Dad is a collegiate coach and he works with him in the offseason. There maybe a solution somewhere there if communication between the club and the Dad were explored?
As many tweaks as he has made to his stance the past few weeks I find it hard to believe he’s not coachable.
True enough now, but it’s taken 2 plus years of inconsistency at the MLB level (and 3 plus more at the minor league level) for those changes to even start. He’s had that odd stance and exaggerated step-in throughout his time in professional ball.
I’m always reluctant to hang an “uncoachable” tag on a guy. At this point he should be exploring every avenue. His career is at stake.
Well said. Rather than uncoachable I should have said “which coach is he listening to.”His Dad has been his major influence all his life and it’s hard to let go of that. But maybe that’s what is needed at this point.
Multiple, competing voices are usually not great. Especially when one is your father who undoubtedly helped you get to this point. But teams are letting guys go outside the org looking for coaching whether it’s a place like Driveline or a hitting lab. Things can get complicated, but there’s a way to balance all this instruction. I hope for Melendez’s sake they can get this sorted out.
I agree MJ could use some AAA at bats but I do like the idea of moving his hands up higher in his stance. With his hands starting low he had no chance on pitches in the upper third of the strike zone.
I can get behind that, but even that kind of adjustment feels radical to unleash in the middle of the season. Maybe I’m wrong. I’m willing to be wrong.
Yeah, it would make sense to me to head to Omaha and work on it there.
It’s been a struggle for sure.
Regarding Melendez, technically he is way off. His hands actually move backwards when he is striding forward. While this isn’t altogether that uncommon, it is a problem with him. He has very little time to get the bat to the desired point of contact. When guys go bad, I always coached to give yourself time (with the hands) and think middle. Hands hi or low are not the problem, it’s are they back in time to enable extension. With MJ, I think not.
I think we’re seeing that bear out in his recent run of results. So many moving parts, it has to be incredibly difficult to adjust just one or two movements. The whole thing can unravel.