Category: Swings

Why The 2021 New York Yankees Hitters are Struggling – In Depth Swing Analysis For Gleyber Torres

Everyone knows that the 2021 New York Yankees are struggling to hit. I have seen many explanations and excuses from the community but I think we can narrow it down to the Yankees management. Something has changed over the past few years and I think management, analytics, data overload, and over coaching has led to the issues in the organization. I believe this is true with pitching as well but I only cover hitting here. I think its easier to just look at one payer and see what has happened over time.

Gleyber Torres was star in 2019 with a 3.6 war (Fangraphs) and a 124 wRC+. In 2021 he is posting a 1.2 war and 87 wRC+ (through August 2021). Offensive war in 2019 was 18.4 and -5.7 in 2021. His defense is saving his overall war numbers this year. We have to assume he is healthy or even healthier in 2021 vs 2019 based on his defensive metrics. So what has happened?

I dug into all the numbers and started my analysis. It was clear that something major changed with Gleyber Torres, but what? The numbers for his batted ball profile show a major change in his ground ball rate. Yes he had more pop ups in 2019 but lets ignore that for this conversation.

Season GB % FB % LD % PU %
2018 34.3 32.1 25.4 8.3
2019 37.5 30 24.3 8.3
2020 41.7 29.6 25 3.7
2021 42.6 27.4 25.5 4.6

 

Another glaring stat is his pull rate. In 2019 he pulled 41% vs only 34.2% in 2021. From a high level observation this means that his approach changed. He hasn’t been pitched different enough for the numbers to be this drastic. His approach changed or his swing changed. I think its both.

Season Pull % Straight % Oppo %
2018 38.7 36.8 24.4
2019 41 34.9 24.1
2020 38.9 34.3 26.9
2021 34.2 38.4 27.4

 

Then we look at quality of contact. He has doubled his weak hit %.  In 2019 he was under the ball 31.1% vs 25.5 in 2021. I see this as a negative and the only reason he was ever under balls was because he was late (happens to everyone) or he was swinging down more and cutting the ball (this is a good thing in Gleybers swing). Then we look at barrels and his best year was 2019.

Season Weak % Topped % Under % Flare/Burner % Solid % Barrel %
2018 0.6 26.7 31.1 25.7 5.7 9.2
2019 2.4 27.1 31.1 22.4 5.4 10.1
2020 2.8 27.8 32.4 25.9 6.5 3.7
2021 5.3 29.7 25.5 27 5.3 6.8

 

Now we can look at his approach. In 2019 he was swinging more often, more aggressively, earlier in the count, and when he made a swing, it was an A swing. In 2021 he seems to be taking more pitches and letting too many pitches in the zone go by, especially on the first pitch.

 

His chase rate is a lot lower but his chase rate contact % is the same. Believe it or not, when Gleyber chases swings outside of the zone and made contact in 2019 he had a .253 batting average. This isn’t horrible and it is a key to his success as a hitter.

 

What Changed?

Approach

I think the New York Yankees are an organization that is run from high level management. They established an analytics department and a video department that relays information to their coaching staff and expects them to roll out changes. But baseball isn’t played by management. You can’t be black and white with the data and force analytics on a human sport. I think the Yankees have a hitting analyst department that overloads their hitters with too much information and it really has an effect on the younger players. Younger players are not established enough to dismiss the staff and ignore the advice coming in from management. They probably have a system that grades your performance every game or every at bat, probably every pitch and swing. It seems like they expect players to take more pitches and that forces players who like to attack early and be aggressive to feel behind in at bats. They also feel pressure to perform to the analytical review after every game and grade well vs hitting the ball.

 

Swing Mechanics

When reviewing Gleyber Torres’ swing I noticed that he is more upright in 2021 with a less aggressive load. His leg kick is the same but he doesn’t load his back hip like he did in 2019. He doesn’t produce a counter rotation and show his back pocket to the pitcher like he used to. This leads to him landing open and not able to judge pitches as well and have to commit earlier than he is used to.

Why did he change this? I don’t know the answer but it looks like he is trying to land more even with his weight and then lower the bat in the slot and rotate. In 2019 and all the old swings I have seen from him he would land aggressively, closed, and work with a downward bat path and hands down to the ball.  There was less rotating in the swing and his front side was a lot more firm. He would pull pitches because he was down, on time, and catch the ball out front. All the power was still stored in his hips because he hasn’t opened up and his direction was through the ball vs rotating and coming around the ball. This is a trend I see in a few of the Yankees hitters. This is why I think its an organizational approach to having n earlier land, no forward movement, flat bat path, and a rotational swing. Wanting hitters to try and cover all pitches, all the time, to all fields vs seeking one pitch, being aggressive, staying loaded, and attacking the ball with their hands through the ball.

This is evident in ground ball% by location. In 2019 he had a lot of gound balls on pitches up in the zone, even out of the zone up. But in 2021 he doesn’t have many and very few above the zone. If you have a flatter bat path you can’t get on top of balls up in the zone.  To further back this up we look at line drive % and see that he hit more line drives but especially up in the zone. Its almost like he cant get on top of the ball at all anymore.

 

2019

2021

Swings

Fastball Up and Away

2021 FF up and away. You can see how he gets under the ball. Even though this ball is up and away, he still lands open, upright, and gets under the ball.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=e7868f35-732f-4d1c-afb3-647cc3072429

 

2019 he gets on top of the ball and hits a 2-strike pitch out for a home run. Look at the posture, landing, and staying on top of the ball with a more vertical bat.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=730a8b84-2ad0-4cf5-901b-c3f2d8e1eb3d

 

Fastball Down and In 0-0 Count

In 2021 you can see how he lands open and pulls off the ball. Attacking it from behind and around. No drive through the ball, everything is rotational.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=812efbbe-f941-40e4-b085-2dd0547fd8c2

 

In 2019 he held his load/posture and his hips stayed level and balanced. He attacked the ball out in front and all his energy went though the field vs around. Eventhough he is under this ball, its not because he was getting “on plane” behind the ball, its because he was aggressively down to the ball and was just a click off with his timing. Resulted in a sac fly but still hit 344 ft.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=35ace951-66be-4949-94e9-ed7cd607e37c

 

Fastball Middle Middle

You can see in 2021 how he is pulling away from the ball. He lands with the intention of dropping the bat into the slot or on plane and rotating. This messes with his timing and he becomes all arms. You can clearly see him reaching on a fastball right down the middle on a 3-1 count. Yes this is a home run bu its only 345 ft and 97.7 exit velo.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=3da021b7-efe8-4f16-a17f-3a577e25a70b

 

Here in 2019 he has the same pitch of a fastball down the middle in a 0-0 count. He stays on this ball with perfect posture and balance. The hands are working out in front of his body. He stays connected with his arms and body. He is not pulling away and is driving the ball up the middle. This ball went 398ft and had an exit velo of 706.6. His hips are working through the ball vs around it. And his bat path stays above the ball the whole time. Swing is down to the ball (we can debate what down means another time).

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=52e1b739-e74b-4c60-ab37-032eb904e4a4

 

Here are the contact still images:

2019

2021

 

Fastball Up Middle Out of Zone

These are the most telling. I am repeating myself but just look at 2019 vs 2021 and these swings will tell you everything you need to know. Posture, core direction, rotation, bat path, bat slot, and balance. The 2021 swing doesn’t look much like the 2019 swing at all.

2021

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=ed01f0cc-f328-4925-9d30-eb01fb7ec2f5

 

2019

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=2651de28-9b0b-4945-b770-dff13e2d8f20

Still images:

2019

2021

How Would I Fix Gleyber Torres’ Swing?

Id start with management and the analytics department and define the goals and how to relay information to the coaching staff and players. I think some players can benefit from data and others are harmed. Once we sort that out, it comes down to working with each hitter and focusing on their strengths while cleaning up some weaknesses.

For Gleyber Id get him back to being a free swinger, especially on first pitches. We would work on a downward path to the ball and make sure the barrel always stays above the ball. I want to work his hands down to the ball and catch it out front while keeping posture and balance. That’s where launch angle happens. You cant artificially create launch from snapping behind the ball with a swing path that is flat to up. You have to work down first, then focus on contact point, then finish high. His swing will create launch. We just need to get him back to being on his path to the ball which is down (not really down if we looked at blast swing path) and squaring up the ball out front. Id imagine that in 3 days we could get his swing back to what is was in 2019. The last piece is timing

 

Bryce Harper’s Swing Sequence

Lets take a look at Bryce Harper’s swing sequence here.  This is early 2019 before spring training.  Nothing new to see from him vs his usual swing (or that I can tell from this) but there are some things to note.

  • Balance
    • His swing may seem out of control at times or like he is swinging as hard as he can but his balance is always great.  You can swing as hard as you want if you can control it and stay balanced.
  • Load and Stretch
    • This is probably the key to his power.  His load is back and wide and he creates so much stretch and power with his hips, shoulders, and back elbow.
  • Launch
    • This is where his swing is unique and its not something you would teach.  That doesn’t matter because its perfect for him.  But he becomes very down and steep to the ball and more noticeably his head drops and tilts back.  This may give him the sense that he is staying down and behind the ball.
  • Impact
    • All the power is unleashed at impact.  He doesn’t get cheated.  That big load and powerful launch gets him to this spot and when he has the natural skill to square the ball up, he hits it hard.  His hips fire so hard that his back foot has to release and come up.
  • Finish
    • Balance and up and the things to look at here.

 

 

 

This isn’t a swing anyone would teach but that’s the point. Everyone is unique in the way their body moves.  In the swing the feet, knees, thighs, hips, back, core, shoulders, elbows, neck, wrists, and hands have to work together.  The mind already knows that it needs to just react and get the bat on the ball.  I’ve only listed 12 body parts out of the thousands that need to work in a swing.  Every muscle, tendon, nerve, etc need to work together.  But now you can mathematically understand why everyone’s swing is different.

Josh Donaldson – Feel vs Real Swing

Feel vs Real is a “real” thing.  I have worked with a lot of people who need to feel something to get into the proper position.  Actually, everyone needs to feel something to get into position.  Its a matter of what they feel (or think they are doing) and what is actually happening (on video).

Josh Donaldson is an elite hitter but what he thinks he does and what he actually does isn’t the same.  That’s ok, it’s normal.  But where this becomes an issue is when he tries to explain how he swings and has an MVP season, then every kid wants to swing like him.  So they mimic it and listen.

They take this idea or lesson and go to:

  • Tee
    • It works.  They can swing up and hit the ball.  Ball flight looks like it is on a home run trajectory.
  • Flips
    • It works.  They are now matching the plane of a flip with the attack angle of the bat and the ball is flying at probably 30 degrees and looks great.
  • Soft Toss
    • They struggle a little here.  The ball is coming in a little flatter and faster but the hitter is just saying to themselves “Donaldson can do this on 95 mph so I just need to get my timing right here and figure it out”.  Eventually they figure it out.
  • Machine
    • Now the player really struggles.  The ball is coming in fast and flatter and the hitter needs to make his decision so much sooner on GO or NO GO and where the ball will be.  This is where I see people super late on the pitch.  The new swing lesson usually fails here.
  • Live At Bat
    • No chance.  Now the hitter needs to be ready for every pitch and every location.  Hitting is reacting and you cant fake it in this step.

 

Now this hitter has worked for 3 months all off season on a swing change that doesn’t play.  They had ideas on coming into the new year hitting long and hard fly balls that would amount to home runs but instead they are striking out way more than usual and if they do  make contact they are hitting oppo flares because they are late and under.  Lets break this down.

 

Josh says “Dont do this” and “Say no”.   Ok, this is fair but I have never seen a hitter literally swing down and do this.

 

Then Josh says “Do This”.  The issue is that he doesn’t do this (well he may, its pitch and pitch location dependent) in his real swing.  To be more clear, what he is saying he is doing and what is actually happening is different.  Its been a while since Ive listened to this whole interview but I think he is describing this as swinging up.  He is actually swinging down and rotating.  But swinging down and rotating is probably the right feel.  The bat needs to start down before it can go up.  The other thing that is happening here is that the ball is set up really deep on him.  This would be a pitch he is late on and jammed.  He wouldnt be able to get his normal path to this ball.  You have to catch the ball out front and get into the ball there.

 

 

Now here is an actual swing.  Contact is made out front.  He was perfectly on time and hit the ball where he wanted.  This resulted in the perfect attack angle to match this pitch.

I want to state that you should be careful watching videos of swings and slo mo especially.  When we look at these swings they are usually home runs.  But not every swing produces a home run.  We are looking at the perfect combination of pitch vs swing vs timing vs contact point.  Thats hard to do.

 

 

 

My point in this post is that you need to be careful when you listen to someone talk about the swing.  What they think they do vs what they actually do is probably different.  But you might take that advice literally and get the wrong results.  Make sure you cater or filter the information you are receiving and make it fit for you and your swing/style.  Swings are unique.  Make your swing the best it can be.  Take cues from guys but dont worry about perfecting their swing.  Do you.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Footwork

Let’s look at the footwork. We can’t go looking at it blindly though. Swing on the left is an offspeed inside pitch where he gets his foot down early and waits back. This is a great move where his weight and hips stay back and he literally rotates and turns on this pitch. That’s why you see the elbow triangle stay through the whole swing. He can’t extend here. But notice the back foot rotates to allow the back hip to turn out of the way which allows the upper body to turn through the ball. Also notice the front foot. Weight is on the heel and that has to open up because of all the rotational force from the backside. You can’t keep that front foot planted and closed while allowing the hips to open. If the foot stays closed then you slide and don’t rotate.

In the swing on the right, that’s a fastball middle away and down. He gets to extend here. But the footwork is similar. It’s not exact because on the left (or top) he has to completely turn to get inside. On the right (bottom) he has more freedom to drive the ball and stay in the ball. Body still rotates just not as violent and sudden. Front foot doesn’t need to turn so much because force is going more towards center field than the left field pole.

Point here is that when you see a swing, keep in mind that it’s pitch dependent. The swing and body has to adjust to pitches. Your core mechanics are key but every swing is different. It has to be. Don’t look at a swing and emulate it blindly. Look at a swing and know when that swing is happening. Take some key things ad apply it to your swing. Your personal swing is all about timing and confidence. Do you… Do what makes you feel like you can win that at bat. Of course there are a hundred other things to consider but here we are talking footwork and energy direction and ability to adapt.