Two at bats in a row Taveras has taken the first two pitches for strikes... I'm betting Garner told him to do so. I missed the first at bat, I didn't really pay attention to it until contact... I know he singled, did he take a pitch first? If he did then Garner must have threatened him not to swing, lol. EDIT: ESPN pitch by pitch of first at bat Willy Taveras Ball, Strike (swinging), Ball, W Taveras singled to center Bet garner chewed his ass out
I noticed over the weekend he seemed not to be swinging at so many bad pitches. I'd chalked it up to wishful thanking, however. Maybe it's not though.
For some reason I see Phil and Willy reenacting Major League (with slight change to fit the situation) with Phil saying, "Every time I see you swing at the first pitch, you owe me 10 pushups." Then after batting practice Willy comes dragging into the clubhouse, "200 pushups?! How am I supposed to swing a bat when I can't lift my arms?"
4-6, errors count as unsuccessful at-bats. He also flied out. If Willy can learn some plate discipline, he'll be borderline illegal. Big "if", but he's young, and has a great hitting coach to work with.
Of the 73 National League players who qualify, Taveras is 61st in pitches per plate appearances. (Lane is 60th and Biggio is 67th). Also he is 71st in walks per plate appearance and dead last in walk to strike out ratio.
Willy either needs to learn how to start drawing more walks or driving the ball with power to be able to stay in the league. His speed will only get him so far and when that fades he will not make it. He is still young and hopefully he can get better at both. If he does, watch out.
The sad thing is he actually might get worse as he learns to hit the ball better. His most likely hits are the balls he barely makes contact with. The harder he hits the ball, the more likely it is an out. He may be the only player in MLB to ever have that be the case.
He needs to shorten his swing a good bit, way too looping now. He does have a natural line drive/ground ball cut though, keeps the bat reasonably level through the zone (something they tried to get Gerald Young to do for years, and he couldn't, or wouldn't, and he kept hitting fly balls & then he was out of the league). But yeah, I've never seen someone take so many full swings & hit so many bleeders, bloopers & bouncers ("things of beauty" as Jimmy D said). Will be interesting to see if he progresses the next couple of seasons.
