Instead of a mammoth walk-off home run, Trout would have a tiny piece of wood in his hands while the majority of the bat (and the ball) would be heading softly toward Yunel Escobar at shortstop. Look at the above pictures and imagine if Trout’s hands were in the same spot as Tulowitzki’s, but also imagine that Trout maintained his trademark vertical bat angle. With such a vertical swing path, if Trout were to utilize typical hand movement and elbow positioning - like Tulowitzki’s - his hands would be far too low at the point of contact to hit even middle-height pitches. But Trout’s uniquely vertical bat angle enables him to choose option d), absolutely nuking the offering, and leaving permanent scarring to the Progressive Field bleachers and Lowe’s psyche. This was the type of pitch that most hitters either: a) miss b) pull foul or c) roll softly to third. (Trust me, simple physics regarding the longer application of force to an object are well settled.) When Trout gets a low pitch on the barrel, the ball goes off the bat at approximately a zillion miles an hour-as it did on this missile off Mark Lowe last month. More time in contact with the ball - even though we’re talking milliseconds here - means harder contact. Picture a pendulum that swings back and forth in a perfectly straight path-Trout’s vertical swing path delivers that kind of effect, where the forward direction of his bat is atypically straight towards the incoming pitch. Essentially, because of the angle from which his bat approaches the ball, instead of connecting with the ball and quickly moving off it, Trout’s bat stays in contact with the ball for a very long time. He is able to stay “on” the ball on low pitches for an eternity, which leads to Trout’s signature hard contact, that “different sound” off the bat that scouts gush over. It is Trout’s pronounced vertical path that helps him destroy anything in the lower third of the hitting zone (or even lower). When we look closely at his swing, it’s much easier to understand the genesis of Trout’s insane high-low discrepancy - namely, that gigantic shoulder dip and resultant sharply vertical swing plane. As such, he can squeeze out all of the juicy power from his swing without worrying about the drawbacks mere mortals tend to suffer from with this type of movement.Īs you can see, Trout’s hot zone chart is completely ridiculous, but how has this come to be? Trout, though, is athletic enough to avoid such excessive internal rotation. This leads to weaker contact, less plate coverage, and a higher incidence of pitches pulled foul. Most inward pronators are vulnerable to too much internal rotation with their front shoulder. That inward pronation, however, doesn’t come without risks. This helps Trout get his foot planted more firmly so that he can generate maximum torque with his lower half. The last item of note is the late inward pronation of his left leg (watch the front foot at the 12 second mark). Most lesser athletes would fly too far forward with their torsos with this kind of stride, but Trout is able to maintain exceptional full-body balance despite the huge horizontal distance covered with his foot. He gets way out there with his front foot, leaving him with a wide base. Sometimes it seems as if everything in America has a connection back to the Pocket City.Trout’s leg kick is above-average in height and exceptional in length. He even invited him to Evansville to enjoy a “good home-cooked meal and his drink of choice.” Wargel declared he’ll now be a lifetime fan of Trout. He posted: “Keep loving the game gotta appreciate you caring about kids and the game!! DM me an address so I can get this gear your way (Thumbs up emoji) (Flexed biceps emoji)” Trout is planning to send an autographed bat and other memorabilia from Old Hickory Bats to Wargel, who is looking forward to laughing about this situation for the rest of his life. He reached out to Wargel again Monday to make peace. You rarely hear from him away from the field. Trout is as unassuming a star as one can imagine despite being a surefire future Hall of Famer. “It’s kind of come full-circle now, too.” Mike Trout to send autographed gear “There’s not such a thing of bad press,” he said. He also used the opportunity to bring attention to his team. Wargel added that, as of Monday afternoon, more than 10,000 people had visited his profile and his tweets were seen by nearly 200,000 others.
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