Ahead of the HR derby tonight, allow me to present my Mt Rushmore of batted balls. I keep it to the Statcast era only
A🧵on what makes each of these uniquely absurd
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Eric Kozak
812 posts
- What the extreme ends of bat path spectrum look like Specifically looking at Tilt, Vertical Attack Angle & Attack Direction
00:00 - Clement put his elite Bat-to-Ball skills on display this Postseason with a record 30 hits His ability to adjust his Tilt allowed him to do so across a range of locations, both in and out of the zone
00:00Ernie Clement has elite Bat-to-Ball skills, fueled by a unique ability to adjust his Bat Path - specifically his Tilt - across a WIDE range of pitch locations 🧵How a combo of increased Bat Speed + better leveraging his contact ability would lead to a huge increase in production - 🧵Matt Thaiss🧵 The former 1st-rounder has made some mechanical adjustments & transformed his profile in 2025 by improving contact, but at the cost of power 📉 If he can maintain his contact gains & return to his previous power production, his value could skyrocket
00:00 - The VAST majority of HRs are hit to the pull-side Your training should probably take this into account
- Nathan Lukes is among the best in the world at adjusting his Tilt / VBA to different pitch locations - leading to excellent Bat-to-Ball skills He faces a critical offseason ahead of his age 31 season 🧵on how he can fight against the aging curve & even become MORE productive
00:00 - What % of Peak Bat Speed leads to the best production? Contact quality is maximized in the 82-86% range Batted ball production is maximized at a higher range - 90-93% The 7% INCREASE is Bat Speed is worth more than the 2.14% decrease in Contact Quality
Over 60% of MLB swings occur at 80-90% of peak bat speed Bat speed training isn't about swinging with absurd intent in games—it's about raising your ceiling so you swing faster WITHOUT changing your level of intent 90% of 85 > 90% of 75 More info: youtube.com/watch?v=WUDQLO… - Volpe needs to get back to pulling the ball in the air more often — a major reason for his struggles has been that far too many of his barrels are wasted dying in CF A promising sign is he's shown the ability to do so in the past
00:31Anthony Volpe is a player that stands out as someone who would benefit from adjusting his bat path Interestingly, it appears he's already tried to - with mixed results 🧵Let's take a deeper look - Anthony Volpe is a player that stands out as someone who would benefit from adjusting his bat path Interestingly, it appears he's already tried to - with mixed results 🧵Let's take a deeper look00:00
- A really impressive display of using posture to adjust his bat path from Ernie Clement 49° Tilt on a pitch 7.5" below the zone 11° Tilt on a pitch 16" above the zone Most hitters are not capable of both ends of the spectrum Short 🧵showing some other movement solutions
00:00 - Why use angled training environments? Using an Open or Closed Angle is an easy way to create changes in a hitter's bat path In general, to create flush contact: • Open Angle requires a more oppo direction • Closed Angle requires a more pull-side direction An example:
- Over 60% of MLB swings occur at 80-90% of peak bat speed Bat speed training isn't about swinging with absurd intent in games—it's about raising your ceiling so you swing faster WITHOUT changing your level of intent 90% of 85 > 90% of 75 More info: youtube.com/watch?v=WUDQLO…
- How a hitter's center of mass moves gives you a lot of insights. It's going to be very difficult to create/maintain space if your weight is crashing towards HP. Momentum is pulling you into early extending. ⬅️Hitter creating space vs losing space➡️
00:00 - How Timing & Point of Intercept (relative to average) impacts performance: xBA has a much wider range where it's above avg than xwOBACON & xSLG xSLG changes very quickly compared to xBA Damage is done out front - the most productive batted balls occur when hitters are earlier
