The art of hitting lefties
Royals are training Mike Moustakas on how to thrive against southpaws
Matt Meyers
ESPN Insider
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- On a back field of the Kansas City Royals' spring training facility, Mike Moustakas does a celebratory jig with fellow prospects Eric Hosmer and Johnny Giavotella. Why? Because they've just beaten a group of fellow minor leaguers in a bunting competition off of a pitching machine.
Such is the life of a minor leaguer during spring training, when teams will do anything to help break the monotony, including organizing bunting competitions among guys such as Moustakas and Hosmer, who probably should never bunt again in their entire professional careers. Besides, these two left-handed sluggers have more important skills to be working on, such as refining the art of hitting left-handed pitching.
It's hard to find fault with Moustakas' 2010 season. He hit .322/.369/.630 with 36 homers across two levels (jumping from No. 69 to No. 23 on Keith Law's top prospect rankings). But if you're going to pick nits, the third baseman had some trouble against southpaws, hitting just .222 against them after his promotion to Triple-A Omaha. Hosmer, who's a year younger and stayed a level behind Moustakas (but is ranked No. 5 by Keith Law), didn't have as much of an issue against his same-handed counterparts, batting .317 off lefties at Double-A, which was the highest level he played at last season.
"Hosmer has a natural inside-out swing as it is, so he lets the ball travel a little further into the zone against lefties and goes the other way," said Royals Triple-A hitting coach Tommy Gregg. "That's where his strength is and where his swing works the best. Moustakas is more of a pull-type hitter, so he's going to be a little more out in front on lefties and pull off on his front side."
<OFFER>
If Moustakas and/or Hosmer struggle in the big leagues against lefties, they wouldn't be the first left-handed hitters to do so. Of course, the Royals want to develop well-rounded hitters and are drilling Moustakas and Hosmer on the art of hitting lefties. They'll set them up against a left-handed curveball machine, and the mandate is to let the ball travel farther into the zone and drive it to left-center. The other drill is called cross-toss, which is when a Royals instructor sets up the L-screen to the first-base side of the mound and a left-handed coach throws batting practice from a more extreme angle.
"A lot of lefty hitters get into trouble because they're afraid to get beat inside by a lefty, so they'll pull out their front side early," Gregg said. "I tell lefties to keep the front side in and think about hitting the ball up the middle, that will keep you on the ball and let it travel further. Lefty pitchers think they can beat lefty hitters inside, and so a lot of left-handed hitters don't want to get beat inside so they open up early. As soon as the pitcher sees that, here comes the curve or slider away and the first move is to pull off the ball, which is why you see a lot of lefties reaching for that outside pitch."
David Ortiz is one left-handed hitter you'll often see flailing when facing lefties, and he hit just .222/.275/.324 against southpaws in 2010. He crushed righties, however, to the tune of .297/.416/.643. Therefore, he still had a good overall line despite being useless against southpaws. Joey Votto, who also hits left-handed, put up a .283/.393/.470 line against lefties to go with a .347/.442/.673 mark against righties en route to winning NL MVP. A large part of the gap between their two seasons was that Votto could hold his own against lefties and Ortiz couldn't.
Moustakas can still be an impact hitter even if he struggles against lefties, as players such as Ortiz, Ryan Howard, Carlos Pena and Curtis Granderson have proved. But the fact that Moustakas had such trouble when facing southpaws at Triple-A, not to mention hitting .237 off of them at Class A Wilmington in 2009, is cause for mild concern, at least when evaluating his overall ceiling.
The biggest problem most prospects face is that there are so few quality lefties in the minors that it's hard to get better against them when you aren't really challenged. And Moustakas, to his credit, has not always struggled against southpaws, hitting .348 against them at Double-A last year. As a result, he's not dwelling too much on the negative.
"I didn't think I struggled too much against lefties," he said. "If I did, it's because I was chasing pitches and not putting myself in a good count to hit. Our philosophy is pretty simple: 'Get a good pitch and don't miss it.' It's the same off a lefty; they just come from a different angle and it's a bit tougher, but it's still the same game."
Royals are training Mike Moustakas on how to thrive against southpaws
Matt Meyers
ESPN Insider
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- On a back field of the Kansas City Royals' spring training facility, Mike Moustakas does a celebratory jig with fellow prospects Eric Hosmer and Johnny Giavotella. Why? Because they've just beaten a group of fellow minor leaguers in a bunting competition off of a pitching machine.
Such is the life of a minor leaguer during spring training, when teams will do anything to help break the monotony, including organizing bunting competitions among guys such as Moustakas and Hosmer, who probably should never bunt again in their entire professional careers. Besides, these two left-handed sluggers have more important skills to be working on, such as refining the art of hitting left-handed pitching.
It's hard to find fault with Moustakas' 2010 season. He hit .322/.369/.630 with 36 homers across two levels (jumping from No. 69 to No. 23 on Keith Law's top prospect rankings). But if you're going to pick nits, the third baseman had some trouble against southpaws, hitting just .222 against them after his promotion to Triple-A Omaha. Hosmer, who's a year younger and stayed a level behind Moustakas (but is ranked No. 5 by Keith Law), didn't have as much of an issue against his same-handed counterparts, batting .317 off lefties at Double-A, which was the highest level he played at last season.
"Hosmer has a natural inside-out swing as it is, so he lets the ball travel a little further into the zone against lefties and goes the other way," said Royals Triple-A hitting coach Tommy Gregg. "That's where his strength is and where his swing works the best. Moustakas is more of a pull-type hitter, so he's going to be a little more out in front on lefties and pull off on his front side."
<OFFER>
If Moustakas and/or Hosmer struggle in the big leagues against lefties, they wouldn't be the first left-handed hitters to do so. Of course, the Royals want to develop well-rounded hitters and are drilling Moustakas and Hosmer on the art of hitting lefties. They'll set them up against a left-handed curveball machine, and the mandate is to let the ball travel farther into the zone and drive it to left-center. The other drill is called cross-toss, which is when a Royals instructor sets up the L-screen to the first-base side of the mound and a left-handed coach throws batting practice from a more extreme angle.
"A lot of lefty hitters get into trouble because they're afraid to get beat inside by a lefty, so they'll pull out their front side early," Gregg said. "I tell lefties to keep the front side in and think about hitting the ball up the middle, that will keep you on the ball and let it travel further. Lefty pitchers think they can beat lefty hitters inside, and so a lot of left-handed hitters don't want to get beat inside so they open up early. As soon as the pitcher sees that, here comes the curve or slider away and the first move is to pull off the ball, which is why you see a lot of lefties reaching for that outside pitch."
David Ortiz is one left-handed hitter you'll often see flailing when facing lefties, and he hit just .222/.275/.324 against southpaws in 2010. He crushed righties, however, to the tune of .297/.416/.643. Therefore, he still had a good overall line despite being useless against southpaws. Joey Votto, who also hits left-handed, put up a .283/.393/.470 line against lefties to go with a .347/.442/.673 mark against righties en route to winning NL MVP. A large part of the gap between their two seasons was that Votto could hold his own against lefties and Ortiz couldn't.
Moustakas can still be an impact hitter even if he struggles against lefties, as players such as Ortiz, Ryan Howard, Carlos Pena and Curtis Granderson have proved. But the fact that Moustakas had such trouble when facing southpaws at Triple-A, not to mention hitting .237 off of them at Class A Wilmington in 2009, is cause for mild concern, at least when evaluating his overall ceiling.
The biggest problem most prospects face is that there are so few quality lefties in the minors that it's hard to get better against them when you aren't really challenged. And Moustakas, to his credit, has not always struggled against southpaws, hitting .348 against them at Double-A last year. As a result, he's not dwelling too much on the negative.
"I didn't think I struggled too much against lefties," he said. "If I did, it's because I was chasing pitches and not putting myself in a good count to hit. Our philosophy is pretty simple: 'Get a good pitch and don't miss it.' It's the same off a lefty; they just come from a different angle and it's a bit tougher, but it's still the same game."
