Rinse and Repeat: Price Pitches Well, Rays Offense Doesn't Help

I know there will be those who want to debate what a hitting coaches job is, and that he can’t go up there and hit for the team, etc. etc. At this point I’m not interested in those debates. Did anyone see Matt’s checked swing first pitch on his second at bat ? Seriously ? Still doing that at this point in the season ? Clearly no plate strategy at all. And it’s not just bases loaded with no or 1 out where such, it’s anytime we get a runner to third with 0 or 1 out. No one, including veterans like Damon seems to have a clue how to drive in runs. Please show me one player who has significantly benefited from Shelton’s influence ? Even if I give you Kotchman you still have a lot of negatives to offset that. Price has how many losses where the Rays score 2 or less ? There is no logic in the world any of you can give me that will convince me that our hitting coach doesn’t and shouldn’t wear some of this. Yet I don’t hear his name in the local media, the national media, on discussion threads. What is going on here ? Why is he protected from any scrutiny ? But if he holds one meeting, and the team hits that night, its all over the papers like he is a big hero. This guy is good. This guy is real good. He’s wasting his talents in baseball and should be in Washington. I’m still looking for the commercials for his new hitting school: The Derek Shelton School of Hitting, where we make it as easy as 1-2-3.

they have been pretty uninspired of late.

Shelton needs to go. I base it simply on the approach. The Rays have the worst approach to hitting of any team I’ve seen. At some point your job is to change that and if you don’t you go. Shop is the perfect example swinging 2-0 at a bad ball changing the count from what would have been 3-0 to 2-1 before eventually King.

Now I’m sure that won’t solve it all (they still don’t have any hitters) but it’s a start. The def of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. You need a change.

Kotch hits to all fields. B.A. said it best. Joyce needs to watch how Kotch does it ,and then follow up. It is not rocket science. You can look at a spray chart and see it. Not hitting to all fields is why these so called big boppers go into extended slumps( Pena). In the month of May ,Joyce was going with the pitch.

The JoMa approach is to see a lot of pitches, take a lot of pitches, have quality AB’s, and get into the other teams bullpen. That is backed up by his hand picked hitting coach with Shelton. No where do I hear or see, that hitters be aggressive, make contact, understand the hitting situation, have an idea of what the pitcher likes to throw, or hit the ball where it is pitched. I am confused but not surprised when the team, consistently, struggles to get hits,has terrible and unproductive at bats during crucial hitting and run scoring situations and fails so often with RISP. It is further highlighted by the “, get them on, get them in”, manufacture runs method that Maddon has preached for most of the last two seasons. It is a team failure which traces back to what hitters are taught and how they are expected to perform.

I call it a passive/reactive hitting approach. Wait, wait and then take advantage of the opportunities. The problem is when you wait so long, you become less aggressive when the those chances come. And when the opposing pitchers know your style, it becomes easier to pitch to situations and to hitters weaknesses. It is not working, IMO.

Blame the players all you want because you feel they are the ones with the bat in their hand. Hitting begins well before the batter steps in the box.

less avg more power. Can play LF so it allows flexibility with the DH we don’t have this year.

http://www.rotoworld.com/playernews/mlb/baseball?r=1&rw=1

Mike Moustakas will sit for the next two days as he works on adjusting his swing.
Moustakas is not in danger of being demoted, but he’s batted just .194/.253/.252 through his first 172 major league plate appearances and the Royals want change. Hopefully the 22-year-old third baseman can finish out his rookie campaign on a strong note courtesy of a new plate approach.