March 10, 20179 yr Last September, Miguel Sano made a subtle but noticeable change in his stance: He lowered his hands to shoulder level. You can see the differences in the side-by-side video below: https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/834119010061017088 The rational behind it seemed obvious, Sano was trying to get from his starting point to the ball in a quicker fashion. By starting his bat and hands at the lower point, he would no longer have to bring them down from his head level to the shoulder level and then fire. The overall purpose, of course, is to make more contact. Last week in camp, I asked Twins manager Paul Molitor if he or his coaching staff had any influence on that change. Molitor said that he was not aware of any instruction given to Sano and added that Sano is a big "feel" hitter and has frequently made changes to his stance/set-up in the minor leagues. This week, the Star Tribune's Phil Miller was able to follow up with Sano and hitting coach James Rowson on the changes. According to Sano, it was former player Fernando Tatis who influenced his new stance. “He said hands up high takes me too much time to [get in position to] swing,” Sano explained, demonstrating the extra motion required to trigger his swing. “Put my hands lower, and it’s just one move. Faster.” The result, according to Sano? “If I put [my hands] lower, I have more time. I can see the ball more,” he said. “I start them down, see the pitch, and boom.” Sano's 36 percent strikeout rate led baseball in 2016, so naturally the Twins and the young slugger want to do everything they can to reduce that mark.
March 10, 20179 yr Interesting, but not I'm not super enthused by the results in Spring "It doesn't matter" Training, thus far.
March 10, 20179 yr Author How does his check swing rate compare to others? I wish that was a stat they carried. Genuinely curious about that.
March 10, 20179 yr Author Interesting, but not I'm not super enthused by the results in Spring "It doesn't matter" Training, thus far. At bats haven't been great, that's for sure. Molitor said that he felt Sano just wasn't picking up the spin of the ball very well yet.
March 10, 20179 yr If two weeks from now Sano still looks lost, I'll be very concerned. If he plays 150-160 games this year he's going to break the strikeout record.
March 11, 20179 yr Well they were working with him hard in BP today about keeping his elbow in. Miggy remarked how he felt like he was going to get hit on his elbow on inside https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcfiVU1t4wk
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