logo
ENFRع
#

Latest news with #swing

Tigers' Riley Greene keeps slugging even as he approaches strikeout record
Tigers' Riley Greene keeps slugging even as he approaches strikeout record

New York Times

timea day ago

  • Sport
  • New York Times

Tigers' Riley Greene keeps slugging even as he approaches strikeout record

DETROIT — Friday afternoon, Riley Greene stepped into the left-handed batter's box when there were only a handful of people on the field at Comerica Park field. Tigers hitting coach Keith Beauregard fed balls into a pitching machine. Greene laced a few balls to right field, then center. In his next round, he worked the opposite field gap. Advertisement He stood off to the side with Michael Brdar, another one of Detroit's three hitting coaches, talking about his swing. Greene mimicked his load and the initial movement of his top hand. He went through his finish and his follow-through. Tigers legend Alan Trammell stood behind the cage, too. The back of his shirt bore one of the team's mantras. Everything matters. Greene is rarely one to hit on the field. After he took batting practice before the All-Star Game, he said, 'I haven't hit on the field in two years.' Greene often prefers the confines of the Tigers' underground cage, where music blares and hitters can go through their routines in privacy. Here amid another brutal slump, though, Greene was changing things up. He wanted to see the ball jump off his bat and land in the Comerica Park grass. Mired in the dog days, he wanted to have some fun with teammates Spencer Torkelson and Dillon Dingler. 'It's good to know I can still hit baseballs,' Greene said at his locker afterward. Greene has always been a streaky hitter, but his most recent cold spell has been arguably his worst. From the second game of a July 2 doubleheader to Friday's series opener against the Angels, Greene was hitting .173. He belted five home runs in that span, but he also struck out 47 times in 115 plate appearances. He is MLB's leader in strikeouts, and if he continues punching out at anything close to this recent rate, he could threaten to set an MLB record. Mark Reynolds holds the mark for single-season strikeouts by a hitter at 223. Greene has punched out 156 times through 119 games this season. If he continues on that pace, Greene would finish the year with 212 strikeouts, tied for the ninth-worst mark ever. Friday afternoon in Detroit, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch did not try to downplay the struggles. He seemed to support the slight change to Greene's routine. 'We've all seen the last month,' Hinch said. 'When you keep trying to do the same thing over and over again, it's the definition of insanity.' At times this year, Greene has played like precisely the hitter he was drafted to be, an aircraft carrier who has achieved the top level of his power potential. Greene has launched 27 home runs, tied for fourth in the American League. He was an All-Star starter who also has the steepest swing in the game, entering the weekend at an average path tilt of 45 degrees. Advertisement Greene is swinging more aggressively than ever this season. The home runs have been a reward. The strikeouts have been the obvious, unintended cost. 'No,' Greene said when asked if he expected an uptick in strikeouts entering the year. 'I think that it comes with it, and I like hitting homers, and sometimes I get excited and I swing at balls in the dirt that aren't even close. It is what it is. It happens. It's the game. Just try to shorten that and not chase as much and get better pitches to hit.' (Baseball Savant) There's a temptation to view Greene through one of two lenses: a frustrating player who strikes out far too much or a dynamic difference maker worthy of a massive contract extension. The reality, as it often does, lies somewhere in between. Greene is a uniquely talented hitter. He is one of Detroit's best homegrown position players in eons. He is 24 years old and is capable of becoming one of the best players in the American League. Yet there are still flaws he is working to overcome. On 13 occasions this year, Greene has struck out three times in a game. Twice, he has achieved the notorious Golden Sombrero — four strikeouts in a single game. 'I feel like I'm not seeing the ball,' Greene said Friday. 'I'm not focusing on the ball. Focusing on different things. Thinking about different things. Got to simplify and stick to my strengths and not go to other people's strengths. Stick to mine. Hunt my zones. Do some damage.' We have seen Greene endure these sorts of droughts. He has often come out of them with incredible stretches of strong performances. Take this weekend as evidence. Greene had two hits Friday night against the Angels. On Sunday, he hit three balls that left the bat at 100 mph or greater, including a line-drive home run. Advertisement 'I say this over and over when people ask me: Do they need encouragement? Do they need a pat on the back? Do they need a kick in the ass?' Hinch said. 'They need hits. That's the best remedy for guys to feel better about themselves.' As Greene searches for more hits, he is trying different things. He shaved down to a goofy mustache, then regrew his beard. He hit on the field. He is working to cover both the high fastballs that he has whiffed on at a concerning rate and lay off the low spin that has caused him to chase at a troublesome clip. 'You can't (cover both),' Greene said. 'You got to pick one and you got to stick to one and whatever happens, happens. They're not always going to throw a fastball up for a strike and then throw a curveball down for a strike. They're not gonna do it. No one can do that every single time.' Greene's troubles have mirrored those of a Tigers team that entered Sunday with MLB's worst walk rate since the All-Star break. As the Tigers look to keep what could be a special season afloat, Greene should play a key role in determining whether the Tigers can recapture their magic or continue a downward slide. 'We are a different offense when he's a part of it,' Hinch said. '(But) he doesn't have to carry this offense. We need to do a lot of things better as a collective group.' Friday against the Angels, Hinch dropped Greene to sixth in the batting order, the lowest he has hit in a start since he batted sixth in his MLB debut. Saturday, Greene did not start against a left-handed pitcher. Sunday, though, Greene was back in the cleanup spot. He notched two hits and drove in three runs. He looked like a middle-of-the-order force, and the Tigers earned a series victory. 'It sucks to struggle,' Greene said Friday. 'It is what it is. It's only a matter of one pitch and one swing, and then the floodgates open.' Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle

With a little help from a Coldplay meme, Freddie Freeman stays hot in Dodgers' win
With a little help from a Coldplay meme, Freddie Freeman stays hot in Dodgers' win

Yahoo

time02-08-2025

  • Sport
  • Yahoo

With a little help from a Coldplay meme, Freddie Freeman stays hot in Dodgers' win

First, the meme made Freddie Freeman laugh. Then, in a serendipitous twist, it gave him a lightning-bulb epiphany about his recently ailing swing. At the end of a long day during last week's homestand — when Freeman was hit by a pitch on July 20, immediately removed from the game to get an X-ray, then informed he somehow hadn't sustained serious injury — manager Dave Roberts shared with the first baseman a comical video edit he had received from a friend. A light reprieve at the end of a stressful day. Read more: Plaschke: Andrew Friedman struck out on the Dodgers' urgent need for a closer In it, the swing of Freeman's walk-off grand slam in last year's World Series was incorporated into a spin-off of the viral Coldplay Kiss Cam video (yes, that Coldplay Kiss Cam). Freeman got a chuckle out of the clip. But, while rewatching his Fall Classic moment, he also made an observation about his iconic swing. On that night last October, Freeman noticed, 'I'm more in my front ankle,' he later said — a subtle, but profound, contrast to how he had been swinging the bat amid a two-month cold spell he was mired in at the time. So, for the rest of that night, Freeman thought about the difference. He went into the Dodgers' batting cages the next afternoon focused on making a change. 'It's a different thought of being in your legs when you're hitting,' said Freeman, who had started the season batting .371 over his first 38 games, before slumping to a .232 mark over his next 49 contests. 'It's just more [about leaning] into my front ankle. It's helping me be on time and on top [of the ball].' 'We'll see,' he added with a chuckle, 'how it goes in the game.' Ten games later, it seems to be going pretty well. Since making the tweak on July 21, Freeman is 14 for 39 (.359 average) with two home runs, four extra base hits, 10 RBIs and (most importantly) a renewed confidence at the plate. After collecting his first three-hit game in a month Tuesday in Cincinnati, then his first home run in all of July the next evening, he stayed hot in the Dodgers' series-opening 5-0 defeat of the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, whacking a two-run double in the first inning and a solo home run in the fifth in front of a crowd of 10,046 at Steinbrenner Field (the New York Yankees' spring training park serving as the Rays' temporary home). 'That visual helped him kind of tap into something,' Roberts laughed recently of Freeman's post-meme swing adjustment. 'He is early, for a change. Versus being late, chasing.' Freeman's turnaround is something the Dodgers — who also got six scoreless innings out of Clayton Kershaw on Friday, lowering his season earned-run average to 3.29 in 13 starts — need out of several superstar sluggers over the final two months of the season. During Thursday's trade deadline, the team didn't splurge on big-name acquisitions. The only addition they made to their recently slumping lineup (which ranked 28th in the majors in scoring during July) was versatile outfielder Alex Call from the Washington Nationals. Instead, both Roberts and club executives have preached of late, the team is banking on players like Mookie Betts (who is batting .237), Teoscar Hernández (who has hit .215 since returning from an adductor strain in May), Tommy Edman (who has hit .210 since returning from an ankle injury in May) and even Shohei Ohtani (who leads the National League in home runs, but is batting only .221 since resuming pitching duties in June) to play up to their typical, potent standards. 'I think if you look at it from the offensive side, as far as our guys, they'll be the first to tell you they've got to perform better and more consistently,' Roberts said. 'That's something that we're all counting on.' For much of the summer, Freeman had been squarely in that group, as well. His recent Coldplay-inspired rebound, the club hopes, will be one of many that spark an offensive surge down the stretch this year. Read more: Dodgers welcome deadline additions, hopeful arrival 'raises the floor for our ballclub' Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

James Wood is in the Derby at 22. You should have seen him at 12.
James Wood is in the Derby at 22. You should have seen him at 12.

Washington Post

time14-07-2025

  • Sport
  • Washington Post

James Wood is in the Derby at 22. You should have seen him at 12.

There are competing theories about the origin of the swing that made James Wood one of the best young hitters in Major League Baseball. Here's one. During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Wood — a rising high school senior — would head to Washington Christian Academy with a childhood friend, Jake Becker, and their dads. The school, about 35 miles from Nationals Park, was the only one nearby with a 90-foot diamond.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store