https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-eighth-pitch-to-josh-reddick/ I was just gonna put this in the game thread, but it's such a well-written article I thought it deserved its own thread.
I wanted a break down of Bregman's at bat with Sale yesterday...the media guys were like Bregman was "borderline" cocky during his AB when he hit his HR..
I thought he handled it pretty well -- no bat flip or celebration, head down running the bases. His comments after the game were on the cocky side, however.
That's fine with me (post-game comments). I don't everyone to be Biggio, even if I think "that's how I'd be". Just back up the talk. Be the same person that got you to this elite level
Liked. Although it to some degree counters clutch ops and hgh leverage stats, which I align too. Loved me some Reddick yesterday. Btran has also been unclutch the last few years and went against the statiscal grain yesterday afternoon, although it did align with an entire history of being clutch, he too bucked his recent trend. Always remember the write up by SPORT magazine on the Mile Scott vs Dave Parker at bat as my baptism into the mental mindset of an at bat from both perspectives.
Also, he did hit himself on the head with his bat earlier the game, freeing the noggin to think correctly, which is going under the radar for some reason.
I remember watching that at-bat and thinking about how he should choke up and not try to do too much. ESPECIALLY when it became a 3-2 count because then he had Maybin going in motion on the pitch. That is an automatic run on a single. It took him eight pitches but he finally did it... and he executed it perfectly.
From the article: "Said an elated Reddick to J.P. Morosi, after the game was over: 'He’s throwing 100 up there with a good curveball, and I was telling our hitting coaches, this is the first time I’ve choked up all year, before I got the hit.'" Hard to tell if he truly did choke up in the GIF in the article, but if Josh says he did I'd tend to believe it.
Not sure what his definition of 'choke up' is unless he usually covers the knob with his bottom hand:
